Today the U.S. Department of Commerce and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released the first Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. Below is a statement from Open RAN Policy Coalition Executive Director Diane Rinaldo:
“Today’s Notice of Funding Opportunity for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund represents a significant milestone in promoting the deployment of open and interoperable networks. A historic $1.5 billion investment, the Fund has the potential to foster a continuous cycle of innovation, design, testing, and commercial deployment, while creating opportunities for emerging companies to compete in the global communications market.
Government support has been a critical component in undertaking the transition to an open approach to 5G and future generations of networks, and the Open RAN Policy Coalition applauds the work being done by U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information Alan Davidson, and their teams at the U.S. Department of Commerce and NTIA to further advance wireless technologies while securing competition, vendor diversity and supply chain resiliency.”