Light Reading
Michelle Donegan
April 30, 2026
Ericsson and 1Finity small cell radios deployed in AT&T’s open radio access network (RAN) were put to the test in Dallas in a new benchmark study by Signals Research Group, offering fresh insight into how the RAN vendor mix performs ahead of a broader rollout later this year.
Cut to the chase, the high-level finding is that the vendors’ small cells perform “largely the same.”
The tests involved 1Finity (formerly Fujitsu) 5G small cell radio units (RUs), Ericsson small cell RUs, Ericsson distributed units (DUs) and traditional Ericsson macro sites in three Dallas areas. The network architecture was 5G non-standalone (NSA). The analysis goes deep on a range of technical performance metrics, including throughput versus signal power, and handovers between small cells and between small cells and the macro network.
“The key takeaway is that the performance of the 1Finity RU is largely on par with the Ericsson radio, so mission accomplished,” said Michael Thelander, CEO and founder of Signals Research Group.
The report notes that “pending software enhancements to the DU should result in feature and performance parity between the two vendors’ RUs in the coming months.”
He described the small cell deployment in Dallas as “borderline commercial,” in that smartphones could attach to the network, but it is not fully signed off yet and still being tested and adjusted before the expected expansion.
“There are some deficiencies that need to be addressed, so it’s not quite parity at the moment, but those are things that are on the roadmap. The bottom line is, you’ve got Ericsson DUs and 1Finity RUs working together, and that really does set the stage for larger scale deployments later this year,” he said.
Next steps for open RAN with Ericsson
AT&T plans to deploy the small cell open RAN in at least two “major” markets later this year for coverage and capacity improvements. The 1Finity mid-power small cell RUs will replace low-power small cells from another vendor in those markets.
Thelander did not name the vendor and it is not detailed in the report. However, it is well known that AT&T is swapping out Nokia as part of its mobile network overhaul, so it is a safe bet the 1Finity small cells would replace ones from the Finnish company.
Then the future makeup of AT&T’s small cell rollout would be mid-power small cell RUs from 1Finity and high- and low-power RUs from Ericsson, and DUs from Ericsson.
The 5G small cells use both time division duplex in band n77 (3.7GHz) and frequency division duplex in band n66 (1.7GHz for uplink and 2.1GHz for downlink). The 1Finity 5G radios also have an Ericsson LTE radio, according to Signals Research Group.
Part of the tests compared cellular service in areas with the two vendors’ small cells to an area with an Ericsson macro cell. “In general, small cells definitely give you a lot of performance advantage,” said Thelander.
He hopes to conduct further “before and after” testing when AT&T expands the rollout later this year.
Signals Research Group used drive test tools from Accuver and generated data traffic with Spirent Umetrix Data (now part of Keysight Technologies). AT&T provided the locations and some logistical support but had no other involvement or sponsorship of the project, the report noted.
But is it really open RAN?
That question has hounded the carrier ever since December 2023 when it announced a $14 billion five-year deal with Ericsson that kickstarted a wireless network modernization project that would see the carrier replace Nokia radios, implement open RAN and adopt cloud RAN architecture.
Open RAN from a single vendor that is Ericsson generated much skepticism, as Light Reading has documented. There was uncertainty at the time about whether Ericsson would work with other RU suppliers, Signals Research Group noted.