O-RAN Alliance Global PlugFest Spring 2026 at i14y Lab
The O-RAN Alliance Global PlugFest Spring 2026 will once again bring together leading industry partners and test laboratories across Europe to advance the validation of open, interoperable, and automated mobile network technologies.
The i14y Lab, supported by Deutsche Telekom, EANTC, and consortium partners, is hosting the Joint European venue alongside Digital Catapult and Orange Labs. Testing began in late April and runs through mid-May, primarily via remote collaboration across all participating sites.
The focus of this year’s PlugFest reflects the ongoing evolution of O-RAN toward more efficient, intelligent, and fully disaggregated network architectures. Key themes include end-to-end interoperability, consistent open fronthaul validation across labs, energy efficiency optimization, and the integration of advanced deployment models based on DevOps principles and automation. In addition, the PlugFest continues to explore critical functional areas such as CU, DU, RU, and RIC integration, Massive MIMO performance, beam detection capabilities, and enhanced security validation.
This multi-lab approach enables consistent and repeatable testing across different environments, supporting the industry’s transition toward scalable and truly interoperable Open RAN deployments. Within the i14y Lab PlugFest 2026, two main test scenarios will be executed as part of the broader O-RAN Global PlugFest Spring 2026 program:
- HCL rApps + OSC SMO Interoperability focuses on advanced energy saving and AI-driven RAN optimization within the O-RAN architecture. The scenario demonstrates how rApps deployed on a Non-RT RIC can, through predictive and heuristic approaches, improve network efficiency when integrated with the O-RAN Software Community SMO. By comparing a baseline operation with rule-based optimization and ML-based load prediction, the objective is to show how intelligent automation can enhance energy efficiency while maintaining service quality and adapting to dynamic traffic conditions.
- E2E Interop with 1Finity and SRS focuses on end-to-end O-RAN interoperability in a multi-vendor FDD deployment. The scenario validates the integration of radio units, distributed RAN functions, synchronization, and core network emulation in a realistic setup. The objective is to demonstrate that all network elements can operate seamlessly together, ensuring reliable connectivity, accurate timing synchronization, and successful end-to-end service delivery across the full O-RAN architecture.
The O-RAN Global PlugFest Spring 2026 will conclude with result presentations and demonstrations from May 25 to 29. Following the event, the final findings and technical insights from this global multi-lab effort will be published on the O-RAN Alliance website, highlighting the ongoing progress toward open and interoperable mobile networks.