Institute for Telecommunication Sciences / Research / 5G / IORS / 2025.12 IORS
International Open RAN Symposium 2025
This meeting will contain a mixture of technical and policy topics. Mornings will focus on technical presentations and panel discussions. Afternoons will include breakout sessions, where attendees will be split into smaller groups to enable interactive discussions. No admittance fees.
Logistics
- Symposium date: December 9 to 10, 2025
- Open RAN lab tours
- December 8: Rakuten RICL Lab
- December 11: OREX & OTIC Labs (Rakuten Mobile Test Room, NTT DoCoMo Test Room, NICT Wireless Center), organized by the YRP R&D Promotion Committee
- See the agenda below for details
- Symposium location: Tokyo, Japan, at the Grand Nikko Hotel Diaba
- Registation
- Register to attend in-person or virtually at https://jdcevents.swoogo.com/ntiaiors25
- Attendance is open to US Foreign assistance eligible countries.
- Registration will close 2 weeks before the event.
- Delayed virtual attendance
- After the IORS event, video recordings will be available for the morning sessions and after lunch keynote (9:00 to 13:35). Breakout sessions will not be recorded.
- These recordings will only be accessible to individuals who register. There will be no live virtual attendance.
- Delayed virtual attendees will download the IORS session recordings from a private section of the Consumer Digital Video Library (CDVL). We will send you details soon.
If you have questions, contact us directly at iors@ntia.gov.
Agenda
December 8
|
Time |
Title |
Details |
|
8:30–11:30 |
Open RAN lab visit, technical
Maximum 60 people |
Rakuten RICL Lab YSK Building 2-8-18, Shiohama, Koto-ku, Tokyo Zip: 135-0043 |
December 9
|
Time |
Title |
Speaker and Details |
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|
8:00–9:00 |
Registration |
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|
8:55–9:00 |
In-person Facilities and Logistics |
Emcee Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
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|
9:00–9:05 |
Opening Keynote |
Jaisha Wray, U.S. Department of Commerce |
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|
9:05–9:10 |
Opening Keynote |
Mariel Garcia, U.S. Department of State |
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|
9:10–9:20 |
Purpose/process/desired outcome of IORS |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
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|
9:20–9:30 |
Short reviews of previous 2025 virtual meetings |
Carsten Rossenhovel, EANTC Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS Eng Wei Koo, Keysight Moderator: Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
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|
9:30–10:10 |
Panel: Progress on policies supporting Open RAN |
Canda: Mathieu Potter, ISED Japan: Shinya Shimada, MIC UK: Jasper Pandza, DSIT US: Mariel Garcia, State Department US: Brian Larkin, NTIA/OIA Moderator: Jaisha Wray, NTIA/OIA |
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|
10:10–10:40 |
Panel: Progress in standards and specifications: Present and near-term projections |
Haseeb Akhtar, Ericsson, O-RAN ALLIANCE, Co-Chair WG1 Awn Muhammad, Rakuten Mobile, ORAN ALLIANCE, Co-Chair SuFG Maggie Chao, ITRI Moderator: Shariq Ashfaq, NTIA/ITS |
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|
10:40–10:55 |
Break |
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10:55-11:25 |
Presentation: Operator-led performance testing, test cases, and learnings |
Japan: Mitsuhiro Kuchitsu, Rakuten Mobile and Japan OTIC lab Taiwan: Neal Sz-Hsien Wu, CHTTL and ITRI US: David Chiang, Verizon and UTD Moderator: Eng Wei Koo, Keysight |
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|
11:25-11:40 |
Presentation: Lab collaboration success story |
US: Shariq Ashfaq, CRAIN lab EU: i14y lab UK: Paul Sludden, SONIC Asia: Maggie Chao, ITRI Moderator: Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
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|
11:40–12:00 |
Keynote: Pioneering Open and Intelligent Networks—Rakuten’s vision for a Sustainable, Connected Future |
Sharad Sriwastawa, CEO and CTO, Rakuten |
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12:00–13:15 |
Lunch |
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13:15–13:35 |
Panel: Convergence in the industry on Open RAN + AI + NTN |
Tom Rondeau, FutureG, US DOD Other panelists to be announced Moderator: Diane Rinaldo, ORPC |
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Interactive Workshop — Identification of Challenges and Potential Solutions |
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|
13:35-13:40 |
Introduction of breakout process and topics |
Emcee Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
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|
13:40-15:00 |
Breakout Session Questions |
Question 1: Do specifications and standards maturity enable consistent and repeatable critical use case testing? If not, what is required? |
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Question 2: How would you define consistent testing? Have current results achieved this definition? What additional work is necessary? |
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Question 3: What are barriers to Open RAN adoption and deployment (e.g. technical, operational, policies, commercial viability)? |
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Breakout Session Facilitators |
· William Rau, NTIA/OIA, and Ted Woodward, OUSD(R&E) · Ian Wong, VIAVI · Other breakout session facilitators to be announced |
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15:00-15:20 |
Break |
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15:20-15:50 |
Reconvene and report out from breakout sessions |
NTIA facilitators from each breakout session |
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|
15:50-16:50 |
Discuss breakout session findings and prioritize challenges |
Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
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|
16:50–17:00 |
Wrap up and homework |
Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
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|
17:00 |
End of Day 1 |
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December 10
|
Time |
Title |
Speaker and Details |
|
|
8:00–9:00 |
Registration |
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|
8:55–9:00 |
Introduction to Day 2 Agenda/Activities |
Emcee Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
|
|
9:00–9:10 |
Summary of Day 1 |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
|
|
9:10-9:50 |
Lightning Talks: Emerging Open RAN Markets |
Lucas Bondan, Rede Nacional de Ensino e Pesquisa, Brazil Abarodh Koirala, Ncell,Nepal James Langat, Safaricom, Kenya Toni Torres, Asia Open RAN Academy, Philippines Other lightning talks to be announced Moderator: Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
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9:50-10:30 |
Panel: Roundtable by labs representing segments: OTIC, research/academia, PWSCIF, governmentally supported |
Van Mao Ngo, SUTD Charles Turyagyenda, SONIC Lab Carsten Rossenhoevel, EANTC Yonghoon Choi, ETRI Moderator: Ian Wong, VIAVI Solutions |
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10:30-10:45 |
Break |
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10:45-11:15 |
Panel: Financing for Open RAN |
Financial Industry and Government Panel Moderator: Jennifer Shin, DOS/CDP |
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|
11:15–11:45 |
Panel: What MNOs have done to deploy Open RAN, and lessons learned |
Industry Panel Shinya Shimada, MIC Sudhakar Pandey, Rakuten Mobile/RAN Sadayuki Abeta, DoCoMo Moderator: Shinya Shimada, MIC |
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|
11:45–12:05 |
Keynote: The changing global telecom environment |
Kuriyama, CEO of DOCOMO Global |
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|
12:05–13:15 |
Lunch |
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13:15-13:35 |
Keynote: 6G and its impact |
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Interactive Workshop — Next Steps to Implement Identified Solutions from Day 1 |
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|
13:35-13:40 |
Introduction of breakout process and topics |
Emcee Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
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|
13:40-15:00 |
Breakout Session Discussions |
Question 1: Next Steps / Action Items |
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Question 2: Next Steps / Action Items |
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Question 3: Next Steps / Action Items |
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Breakout Session Facilitators |
· Eng Wei Koo, Keysight, and Nana Chen, ITRI · David Chiang, Verizon Wireless, and Tiffany Lin, ITRI · Sophie Weston and Charles Turyagyenda, UK SONIC Labs · Hideo Tomioka, Rakuten Symphony, and Alexander Botting, ORPC |
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|
15:00-15:20 |
Break |
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|
15:20-15:50 |
Reconvene and report out from breakout sessions |
NTIA facilitators from each breakout session Moderator Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
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|
15:50–16:50 |
Prioritize next steps and identify owners |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
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16:50-17:00 |
Final comments and close |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
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|
17:00 |
End of Day 2 |
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December 11
|
Time |
Title |
Details |
|
9:30–12:00
|
Open RAN lab visit, technical and policy
Maximum of 72 people |
OREX and OTIC labs: · Rakuten Mobile test room · NTT DoCoMo test room · NICT Wireless Center Organized by the YRP R&D Promotion Committee YRP Center No.1 Bldg, 3-4 Hikarinooka Location: YRP, Inc. https://yrp.co.jp/en/direction/ |