Led by Huawei and other global telecom giants, the OpenAN project aims to slash integration costs and accelerate automated, agent-based AI network deployments.
Led by Huawei and global industry partners, the OpenAN open-source project was officially released in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 30 June 2026. The framework provides out-of-the-box open-source components explicitly targeting the deployment and accelerated delivery of Level 4 Autonomous Networks (AN) for Communication Service Providers (CSPs).
It is designed to drive the widespread adoption of the A2A-T (Agent to Agent Protocol for Telecom) standard, slashing integration costs and solving prominent hurdles like inconsistent interconnection standards, cross-domain integration, and low reusability of network components. To protect sensitive infrastructure, the framework supports secure on-premises deployment, significantly reducing internet exposure while allowing enterprise-grade AI deployment.
With China Mobile serving as the project Chair, the initiative launched with eight core founding members: China Mobile, Huawei, AIS, AsiaInfo, Infosys, Orange, Personal, and ZTE. Together, they established the open-source community’s initial governance system, version control protocols, code contribution rules, and immediate implementation roadmaps. As co-initiators and foundational contributors, Huawei and China Mobile have jointly donated the initial versions of the baseline open-source software blocks to the Linux Foundation Networking (LFN) group. These include the Registry Centre, the Orchestration Centre, and the A2A-T Software Development Kit (SDK).
The open-source architecture is built to automate four primary criteria for telecom agents: smart link, agile build, large-scale collaboration, and deterministic execution. The OpenAN framework operates under the guiding governance of TM Forum’s Autonomous Network standards and leverages the Linux Foundation Networking (LFN) infrastructure for operational outreach and community management.
Mr Sam Wang, co-chair of the Adopter Advisory Committee for LFN’s OpenAN Project and General Manager of Huawei ADN Solution, emphasized that backed by LFN’s global community, the project aims to rapidly advance and drive the extensive deployment of these open-source tools into live production networks.
