Oct 13 (Reuters) – Dell Technologies Inc (DELL.N) on Wednesday said it will release software designed to help telecommunications carriers manage the computers in their networks, deepening its push to become a major player in 5G technology.

Dell has been working to take advantage of an industry-wide movement toward a technology called Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN), where telecommunications carriers use software to run network functions on standardized computing hardware, rather than buying almost all the gear in the network from telecommunications-specific providers such as Nokia (NOKIA.HE) or Huawei Technologies Co Ltd (HWT.UL).

Dell makes the computing hardware that goes into the networks and has already secured deals to help DISH Network Corp (DISH.O) in the United States and Vodafone (VOD.L) and Orange (ORAN.PA) in Europe build 5G networks using the technology.

The new networks will contain many more computer servers than older-style networks. The software that Dell announced Wednesday, called “Bare Metal Orchestrator,” is a paid software tool to help carriers manage those fleets of computers. Dell said the product will be available in November.

Reporting by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Steve Orlofsky

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