Washington, DC — The Open RAN Policy Coalition congratulates DISH Wireless, today named as the recipient of a grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) as part of the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, a $1.5 billion project authorized by Congress in the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022.
The $50 million grant award will go towards the establishment of the Open RAN Center for Integration & Deployment (ORCID), an initiative that will allow participants to test and validate their hardware and software solutions against DISH’s Open RAN network.
“The Open RAN Policy Coalition is thrilled to congratulate DISH on their tremendous achievement,” said Diane Rinaldo, Executive Director of the Open RAN Policy Coalition. “This well-deserved grant from NTIA and the U.S. Department of Commerce speaks to the commitment of DISH Networks and its partners in advancing the deployment of Open RAN. The creation of new testing and evaluation facilities is critical to supporting the evolution of next-generation technologies from the development stage and into the field.”
In establishing ORCID, DISH Wireless will collaborate with Fujitsu Network Communications, Inc., Mavenir Systems, Inc., and VMWare, Inc. with further support from technology partners Analog Devices, ARM, Cisco, Dell, Intel, JMA, NVIDIA, Qualcomm, and Samsung. ORCID will combine both lab and field testing activities for integrating Open RAN into existing networks.
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.
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