Alium, a joint patent pool venture between MPEG LA and Unified Patents, is supporting the development of Open RAN by providing a solution to the uncertainty and risk posed by the more than 100,000 essential patents already self-declared. 

Open RAN increases competition in the telecommunications infrastructure space, enabling mobile networks to use different vendors interchangeably, thereby lowering costs. Support for Open RAN has increased significantly over the last several years. Governments around the world (including the US, India, Japan, and Australia) have declared the growth of Open RAN solutions to be strategic to their economic and national security.

But for the Open RAN market to grow to more than 220 million units by 2030 as projected, the market must address the risk and the patent uncertainty that threatens to slow adoption.

Alium was created to do that by providing a license of convenience for Radio Unit vendors to help decrease uncertainty in patent licensing fees related to their products while also providing compensation to patent holders for developing the technology.

Alium’s program is innovative:

• Offers licenses for 4G / 5G infrastructure

• Uses AI-based landscapes to determine royalty allocation (Methodology is here)

• Requires no money from patent holders to participate

• Includes a Patent Quality program to build the integrity of the Open RAN ecosystem by discouraging the assertion of invalid patents

The Alium Open RAN Radio Unit License provides a one-stop solution for vendors to receive a license with leading patent owners in a single transaction at a low per unit cost. Alium is currently signing up leading patent owners to offer the License to the market starting in Q1 2022. The full agreement is available to qualified licensors and licensees immediately.

For more information, please go to https://www.alium-llc.com/ or email: info@alium-llc.com.