We consider the application of linear physical layer network coding to next generation radio access networks (LPNC-RAN). We introduce a linear physical layer network coding scheme based on binary matrices, and illustrate its application to a simple example network topology. We compare this to benchmark schemes based on coordinated multipoint (CoMP), and show that while its performance is poorer than ideal CoMP with unlimited backhaul, it is significantly better than a practical CoMP scheme, while also giving rise to much lower backhaul load.