本文选自《经济学人》11月7日刊文章。华为的5G网络技术在全球无人能与之匹敌，西方国家受美国游说蛊惑拒绝华为，但是也面临无代替技术可用的尴尬局面。但是OpenRAN似乎打破了这种僵局，它就像是智能手机，主要使用现成的硬件组装而成，通过大代码定义其功能，所有的配件都是通过标准接口连接起来，运营商可以自由搭配不同供应商提供的配件。目前日本已经在部分城市使用这种技术建立5G网络，但有专家们担心，该技术在人口稠密的城市可能信号不好，而且也为黑客创造了新的机会。
选文精讲
Is there an alternative to Huawei?The trouble is that the costs of ditching Huawei are high: you risk becoming reliant on two big Nordic firms, Nokia and Ericsson, the other main suppliers of 5G gear. In the long run a duopoly is bad for competition and innovation. And in the short run neither firm is infallible. Nokia, in particular, is in trouble. On October 29th it announced a drop in sales of 7% year on year, and its shares plunged by almost 20%. Its new boss said that it had been “clearly behind” on 5G.
问题在于，放弃华为的代价很高:你可能会依赖于两大北欧公司——诺基亚和爱立信，这两家公司也是5G设备的主要供应商。从长远来看，双头垄断不利于竞争和创新。从短期来看，这两家公司都不是绝对可靠的，尤其是诺基亚陷入了困境。10月29日，诺基亚宣布销售额同比下降7%，其股价也暴跌了近20%。该公司的新老板表示，该公司在5G方面“明显落后”。OpenRAN is an alternative to relying on either Huawei or the Nordic duo. Along with a related technology called network virtualisation, it changes the rules of the game. To understand why, compare an old tethered telephone with a modern smartphone. One is a dedicated piece of hardware made of customised parts, whereas the other is a general-purpose computer controlled by software that can accommodate any type of app, provided it complies with certain technical rules.
OpenRAN是除了华为或北欧两家公司外的另一种选择。它通过一种被称为网络虚拟化的相关技术改变了游戏规则，要了解其原理，可以比较一下老式的有线电话和现代的智能手机，一种是由定制部件组成的专用硬件，另一种是由软件控制的通用计算机，只要符合某些技术规则，它就能兼容任何类型的应用程序。Similarly, conventional mobile networks are made out of specialised equipment, whereas the new OpenRAN kind use mostly off-the-shelf hardware, with lots of code defining what it can do. Because all the gear connects up using standard interfaces, carriers can mix and match products from different suppliers—something that they cannot do today. Operators have more insight into what is going on in their networks and can avoid components they do not trust, such as Chinese chips. They could also save a lot of money and become quicker on their feet.
类似地，传统的移动网络是由专门的设备组成，而新OpenRAN主要使用现成的硬件，通过大量的代码定义它可以做什么。因为所有的配件都是通过标准接口连接起来的，运营商可以将不同供应商的产品混合搭配——他们现在还做不到这一点。这一运营商可以对自己的网络有更深入的了解，并且可以避免使用自己不信任的组件，比如中国芯片。他们还可以省下一大笔钱，行动也会更快。
