EchoStar Launches Open-RAN Testing Lab

July 16, 2024 – Satellite internet provider EchoStar Corporation launched the Open RAN Center for Integration and Deployment, a testing and evaluation lab, on Monday.

The lab, housed at the company’s Wyoming data center, is funded by a $50 million grant from the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund, intended to support testing and validation of O-RAN solutions.

Open RAN is an industry standard that allows mobile network operators to use equipment from multiple vendors while eliminating interference. It standardizes the protocols between different components of the radio access network.

ORCID will conduct lab and field tests for O-RAN components from multiple vendors using DISH’s O-RAN stack and spectrum. Its "living laboratory" offers a real field test setup to advance the O-RAN ecosystem from lab experiments to commercial deployment, said the press release.

"ORCID represents a significant milestone in both EchoStar and the U.S.'s journey to drive and lead the adoption of open and interoperable radio access networks," said Charlie Ergen, co-founder and chairman of EchoStar.

“We encourage vendors interested in advancing the future of Open RAN technology to reach out and see how to participate in" the program, said Ravinder Jarral, head of the ORCID program at EchoStar.