-
It’s time for radio units (RUs) to get their day in the sun
-
The government’s next batch of funds – a cool $420 million – targets the radios that sit atop cell phone towers
-
NTIA expects to start making awards this fall
NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson said 5G is a “wondrous” technology, but today’s market for wireless equipment is static and highly consolidated, with just a few vendors providing the full set of radios and components that underpin the networks.
That’s got to change, according to Davidson, who announced a $420 million funding round on Tuesday designed to break vendor lock-in and encourage more innovation.
This second Notice of Funding Opportunity – aka a NOFO – directly targets the hardware supply chain by supporting projects that are going to drive commercialization of open radio units (RUs).
RUs are the most costly part of the network, and the idea is that by making more open RUs available, that will drive greater open Radio Access Network (RAN) adoption, Davidson explained.
Specifically, this latest round of funding targets two areas: open RU commercialization and open RU innovation. NTIA expects to grant between $25 million and $45 million per commercialization award and $5 million to $10 million per innovation award. Applications are due July 10.
Previously, $140 million was awarded to 17 projects across the country as part of the $1.5 billion Wireless Innovation Fund, a 10-year program designed to catalyze new ways to build open and interoperable wireless networks.
While $1.5 billion is a ton of money, it’s not everything the government can bring to the table, said Diane Rinaldo, executive director for the Open RAN Policy Coalition, speaking on a round table panel following Davidson’s announcement in Washington, D.C.
It’s important to bring all government programs together to “push that ball uphill,” she said, noting the FCC’s recent announcement to allocate $900 million in incentives for open RAN in the 5G Fund for rural America and other government programs.
The Department of Defense (DoD) effort to validate the security of open RAN also is going to be critical, said Matthew Pearl, director and special advisor for Emerging Technologies at the White House National Security Council.
Let’s hear it for the RIC
In addition, there’s a dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) moonshot underway in the National Spectrum Strategy to advance the use of that technology. Open RAN and the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) are a big piece of that, he said.
“I do think the RIC is going to play a really critical role,” he said. “We’re starting to see some large operators move toward open RAN, which is great,” but the cycle for open RAN right now means it’s easy for a brownfield operator to remain in a test phase while waiting to see how a competitor works it out with vendors.
“I think that that’s going to flip once the RIC is really activated because at that point … it becomes the app store of mobile networks,” Pearl said.
Getting to the stage where the near-real time and non-real time RIC are part of the equation in networks – “that is when you’re really going to see the incentives change,” he added.
While a lot of open RAN efforts are happening overseas, in the U.S., Dish Networks is the pioneer in open RAN and more recently, AT&T made a big commitment with Ericsson.
Going forward, “I think that it’s also going to be scrappy companies that we’ve just never heard of, and I think that’s really where verticals come in,” Pearl said.
NTIA expects to start making awards from this second funding opportunity this fall. An Industry Day is planned for May 17 for prospective applicants.