O-RAN Alliance

In telecommunications, the O-RAN Alliance is an industry consortium defining open, interoperable RAN interfaces and architectures, including the disaggregation of CU, DU, and RU and the introduction of the RIC. Its specifications complement 3GPP and aim to enable multi-vendor radio deployments.

Categories: Radio Access NetworkProtocols and StandardsCloud and Virtualization

O-RAN Alliance in context

The radio access network is the layer where mobile devices attach to the operator's infrastructure. Attacks in this layer include IMSI catching, rogue base stations, downgrade attacks and jamming, and defenses hinge on mutual authentication, integrity-protected signaling and Open RAN supply-chain hygiene.

Telecom security is written into standards from 3GPP, GSMA, ETSI, IETF and ITU-T. Understanding which body owns which specification, and how the specs interlock (for example 3GPP TS 33.501 with GSMA FS.34 for 5G SBA security), is essential for both design and audit work.

To place O-RAN Alliance in the wider telecom-security picture, review CU/DU/RU Split, Open RAN, SECAM, ETSI ISG NFV, ETSI ISG MEC and Open Fronthaul.

Related terms

Equipment

O-RAN units and RIC (O-RU, O-DU, O-CU, RIC, SMO)

Articles in the P1 mobile network security guide

Related topic hubs

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