Today, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) awarded $42 million in the final award from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s first Notice of Funding Opportunity. Additional awards will come after NTIA issues the next Notice of Funding Opportunity.
This award will fund a project by a consortium of U.S. carriers, foreign carriers, universities and equipment suppliers to establish a testing, evaluation and R&D center in the Dallas Technology Corridor and a satellite facility in the Washington, D.C area. The center will focus testing on network performance, interoperability, security, and facilitate research into new testing methods.
Testing and evaluation facilities will make industry-standard testing more accessible to new market players – both in the U.S. and in partner nations – and encourage greater collaboration across different industries.
“Spurring innovation and competition in wireless technologies is vital to U.S. economic and national security,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This $42 million award marks $140 million in investments through the Wireless Innovation Fund, underscoring the impact of President Biden’s Investing in America Agenda in action. These grants are supporting facilities and advancing research that will unlock new opportunities for America to lead in the global telecommunications market, strengthen our supply chains and drive down costs.”
By investing in open, interoperable networks, NTIA is laying the foundation for a stronger, more secure and more resilient telecommunications supply chain. The transition to open networks will enable the U.S. and its global partners to lead the next generation of wireless innovation.