Grant includes $42.3 million for Open RAN testing, evaluation and R&D centers.
Washington, DC — The Open RAN Policy Coalition congratulates AT&T and Verizon on a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund.
The $42.3 million grant, which is the final award in the first round of funding authorized by Congress in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, will go towards the establishment of the Acceleration of Compatibility and Commercialization for Open RAN Deployments (ACCoRD). This consortium of carriers, universities and equipment suppliers will establish testing, evaluation and R&D centers in Dallas and Washington, D.C. According to NTIA, the center will focus testing on network performance, interoperability and security, and will facilitate research into new testing methods.
“The Open RAN Policy Coalition is thrilled to offer our congratulations to AT&T, Verizon and their partner organizations on this grant award from NTIA and the U.S. Department of Commerce,” said Diane Rinaldo, Executive Director of the Open RAN Policy Coalition. “This diverse group of carriers, suppliers and universities is uniquely positioned to advance the development of Open RAN testing and evaluation, which will ultimately drive greater innovation, investment, and competition in the market for telecommunications network infrastructure.”
In addition to AT&T and Verizon, participants in the ACCoRD project include: NTT DOCOMO, Reliance Jio, Microsoft, Nokia, Radisys, Airspan, Ericsson, Fujitsu, Rakuten, Samsung, Mavenir, VMWare, RedHat, Wind River, Ciena, Cisco, Dell, Intel, Amdocs, Keysight, VIAVI, University of Texas at Dallas, Northeastern University, Iowa State University, Rutgers University and Virginia Tech.
The Open RAN Policy Coalition represents a group of companies formed to promote policies that will advance the adoption of open and interoperable solutions in the Radio Access Network (RAN) as a means to create innovation, spur competition and expand the supply chain for advanced wireless technologies including 5G. For more information about the Coalition and its initiatives, please visit www.openRANpolicy.org.
###