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 |
December 9
|
Time |
Title |
Speaker and Details |
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|
8:00–9:00 |
Registration |
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|
8:45-8:55 |
[Keynote] Welcome to Japan |
Hideo Fuseda, Director-General of the Global Strategy Bureau, MIC |
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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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|
9:10–9:15 |
Purpose, process, and desired outcomes |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
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|
9:15–9:25 |
Short reviews of previous 2025 virtual meetings |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS Carsten Rossenhovel, i14y lab / EANTC Eng Wei Koo, Keysight |
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|
9:25–10:05 |
[Panel] Open RAN and AI RAN: Government Perspectives, Policies, and Activities |
Canada: Mathieu Potter, ISED Japan: Shinya Shimada, MIC UK: Jasper Pandza, DSIT US: Mariel Garcia, U.S. State Department Moderator: Jaisha Wray, NTIA/OIA |
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|
10:05–10:35 |
[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 Dan Henry, Sr. Policy Advisor, NTIA/OPAD Moderator: Shariq Ashfaq, NTIA/ITS |
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|
10:35–10:50 |
Break |
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|
10:50-11:20 |
[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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|
11:20-11:40 |
[Presentation] Lab collaboration success story |
US: Shariq Ashfaq, CRAIN lab EU: Carsten Rossenhövel, i14y lab / EANTC UK: Paul Sludden and Charles Turyagyenda, SONIC Labs 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 |
Takeshita Hiroshi, Managing Executive Officer and Vice CTO at Rakuten Mobile |
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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 Andres Arjona, Nokia Stephen Draskoci, Aalyria Tim O’Shea, DeepSig 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 |
Lauriston Hardin, NTIA |
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|
13:40-15:00 |
Breakout Session Discussion |
· Do specifications and standards maturity enable consistent and repeatable critical use case testing? If not, what is required? · How would you define consistent testing? Have current results achieved this definition? What additional work is necessary? · What are barriers to Open RAN adoption and deployment (e.g. technical, operational, policies, commercial viability)? |
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|
Session 1 Leaders |
Policy: William Rau, NTIA/OIA Technical: Ted Woodward, OUSD(R&E) |
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Session 2 Leaders |
Policy: Alexander Botting, ORPC Technical: Ian Wong, VIAVI |
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|
Session 3 Leaders |
Policy: Brian Larkin, NTIA/OIA Technical: Julie Kub, NTIA |
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|
Session 4 Leaders |
Policy: Joe Shapiro, DSIT Technical: Jens Sohn, Boost Mobile |
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Session 5 Leaders |
Policy: Hiroki Fukuda, MIC Technical: Carsten Rossenhövel, EANTC and i14y Lab |
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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: Lauriston Hardin, NTIA |
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|
15:50-16:50 |
Discuss breakout session findings and prioritize challenges |
Lauriston Hardin, NTIA 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 |
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|
9:00–9:10 |
Summary of Day 1 |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
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|
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 Joe Jomah Kerkula, Liberia Telecommunications Authority Mohamed Abdelghany, Egypt, NTRA Simon Fraser, PNCC, Palau Chandra Sharma, Department of Telecommunication, India Moderator: Dan Henry, NTIA/OPAD |
|
|
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 Rossenhövel, EANTC Yonghoon Choi, ETRI Pedram Johari, NEU Moderator: Ian Wong, VIAVI Solutions |
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|
10:30-10:45 |
Break |
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|
10:45-11:15 |
[Fireside Chat] Financing for Open RAN |
Ean Hundley, DFC Kevin Toohers, USTDA, U.S. Embassy Bangkok Moderator: Jennifer Shin, DOS/CDP |
|
|
11:15–11:45 |
[Panel] What MNOs have done to deploy Open RAN, and lessons learned |
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 |
Ryuji Wakikawa, VP and Head of Advanced Research, Softbank |
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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 |
Lauriston Hardin, NTIA |
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|
13:40-15:00 |
Breakout Session Discussions |
Next Steps and Action Items |
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|
Session 1 Leaders |
Policy: Nana Chen, ITRI Technical: Eng Wei Koo, Keysight |
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Session 2 Leaders |
Policy: Tiffany Lin, ITRI Technical: David Chiang, Verizon Wireless |
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Session 3 Leaders |
Policy: Sophie Weston, UK SONIC Labs Technical: Charles Turyagyenda, UK SONIC Labs |
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Session 4 Leaders |
Policy: Hideo Tomioka, Rakuten Symphony Technical: Aloizio da Silva, Virginia Technical University |
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Session 5 Leaders |
Policy: Tajma Rahimic, CLDP Technical: Van Mao Ngo, SUTD |
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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: Lauriston Hardin, NTIA |
|
|
15:50–16:50 |
Prioritize next steps and identify owners |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
|
|
16:50-17:00 |
Final comments and close |
Julie Kub, NTIA/ITS |
|
|
17:00 |
End of Day 2 |
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December 11
|
Time |
Title |
Details |
|
9:30–12:00
|
Open RAN lab visit
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 Yokosuka, Kanagawa 239-0847 Japan
Location: YRP, Inc. https://yrp.co.jp/en/direction/ |