Our Executive Director Diane Rinaldo testifies before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology today, in a hearing on “Leading the Wireless Future: Securing American Network Technology.” Her testimony is focused on the reasons why Open RAN Policy Coalition members believe that Open RAN will provide significant public interest benefits, including:
- Driving increased competition, innovation and network vendor diversity;
- Providing technological improvements that benefit network management and innovation;
- Making services and products more affordable for consumers, including those in rural and underserved communities; and
- Serving as a complement to parallel advances in enhancing network security and network management for 5G.
A shift in mobile network architecture towards open and interoperable interfaces has already prompted a proliferation of new entrants and start-ups driving innovations not only in the RAN, but also in additional technologies that can be layered in after deployment, and we are seeing first-hand that disaggregating the radio access network lowers the barrier to entry for new vendors in the marketplace. Increased vendor choice in turn drives competition and innovation, which leads to lower prices.
In order to promote this technological evolution and accelerate a stable, sustainable, and successful transition to 5G and beyond, government initiatives and policy priorities must:
- Support new and existing technology suppliers, as well as small and large network operators, offering open and interoperable RAN solutions as well as integration of those open components;
- Create a competitive global ecosystem of diverse trusted suppliers and service providers; and
- Encourage building, maintaining and investing in U.S. and technological allies’ leadership for the development of both 5G and future wireless networks.
A full copy of Rinaldo’s testimony is available for download here.