LF Networking Welcomes O-RAN Software Community as Formal Project, Deepening Open RAN Ecosystem Collaboration
The Linux Foundation | 16 April 2026
- Migration marks a new chapter for open source Radio Access Network development, with continued O-RAN ALLIANCE partnership
- LF Networking now addresses full end-to-end network stack with formal inclusion of O-RAN initiative
SAN FRANCISCO, April 16, 2026 — Linux Foundation Networking (LFN), the facilitator of collaboration and operational excellence across open source networking projects, welcomes the formal migration of the O-RAN Software Community (O-RAN SC) under the LFN umbrella, marking a significant milestone in the evolution of open source Radio Access Network (RAN) software development. The O-RAN ALLIANCE and LFN will collaborate throughout the migration process and will support the initiative going forward.
The O-RAN SC was established as a collaboration between the O-RAN ALLIANCE and the Linux Foundation with the mission of developing open source software for the RAN – the next major frontier for the open source community. The O-RAN SC focuses on developing modular, open, intelligent, efficient, and agile disaggregated RAN solutions aligned with O-RAN ALLIANCE open architecture and specifications.
The O-RAN SC has long been one of the largest consumers of LF project output, drawing on OpenDaylight (ODL), Nephio, ONAP, Duranta, and others to build and evolve its open RAN software. At the same time O-RAN ALLIANCE provided its open and intelligent RAN architecture, technical specifications, and governance for efficient development of over a dozen O-RAN SC projects. Until now, this collaboration has taken place across organizational boundaries. The full integration of O-RAN SC into LF Networking enables tighter, more efficient, and more streamlined collaboration with its fellow LFN projects under a single, unified governance structure.
Completing the Open Source 5G Stack
The O-RAN SC's contribution to LFN extends well beyond organizational alignment. With its portfolio spanning the Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework, RAN Intelligent Controllers (RICs), rApps, and xApps, O-RAN SC brings critical RAN layers into the LFN fold. Combined with LFN's existing projects addressing transport, orchestration, and infrastructure automation, the ecosystem now encompasses the full RAN stack in open source.
“After eight years, the O-RAN Software Community successfully accomplished its mission to jumpstart open source RAN software closely aligned with the O-RAN architecture and specifications, supporting the RAN industry in building open and intelligent Radio Access Networks,” said Thomas Lips, chair of the board of O-RAN ALLIANCE and SVP RAN Disaggregation at Deutsche Telekom. “Ever since, relevant open-source initiatives have continued to expand, and the O-RAN ALLIANCE looks forward to further supporting the broader LF open source community in developing O-RAN consistent open source software."
About the Migration
Plans for the migration were initially shared by the O-RAN ALLIANCE during its O-RAN ALLIANCE Summit held at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona last month.
The technical aspects are being carefully coordinated with the O-RAN SC development schedule to minimize disruption to ongoing work. The O-RAN SC's Technical Charter has been updated to reflect LFN's meritocratic governance principles, ensuring that project leadership and direction are driven by technical contribution and community participation.
Learn more at o-ran-sc.org, lfnetworking.org and www.o-ran.org.
About O-RAN ALLIANCE
The O-RAN ALLIANCE is a worldwide community of mobile operators, vendors, research, academic and government institutions operating in the Radio Access Network (RAN) industry. As the RAN is an essential part of any mobile network, the O-RAN ALLIANCE’s mission is to re-shape the industry towards more intelligent, open, virtualized and fully interoperable mobile networks. The O-RAN specifications enable a more competitive and vibrant RAN supplier ecosystem with faster innovation to improve user experience. O-RAN based mobile networks at the same time improve the efficiency of RAN deployments as well as operations by the mobile operators. To achieve this, the O-RAN ALLIANCE publishes RAN specifications, releases open software for the RAN, and supports its members in integration and testing of their implementations.
For more information, please visit www.o-ran.org. Follow O-RAN ALLIANCE on LinkedIn.
About The Linux Foundation
The Linux Foundation is the world’s leading home for collaboration on open source software, hardware, standards, and data. Linux Foundation projects are critical to the world’s infrastructure including Linux, Kubernetes, Node.js, ONAP, OpenChain, OpenSSF, OpenStack, PyTorch, RISC-V, SPDX, Zephyr, and more. The Linux Foundation is focused on leveraging best practices and addressing the needs of contributors, users, and solution providers to create sustainable models for open collaboration. For more information, please visit us at linuxfoundation.org.
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