Funding and Unified Standards Essential for Open RAN: Experts
Dish is planning to stand up an NTIA-funded testing facility in the next 6 months.

Dish is planning to stand up an NTIA-funded testing facility in the next 6 months.
WASHINGTON, January 17, 2024 – Industry stakeholders testified at a House hearing on Wednesday that the National Telecommunications and Information Administration should award its Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund quickly and include some standards organizations in the mix of recipients.
Funded by the 2022 CHIPS and Science Act, the $1.5 billion program is aimed at expanding open RAN networks, which operate on generic components and software rather than proprietary hardware from large suppliers.
Fiber deployment emerges as a common thread despite vastly different market conditions.
Permitting delays, transmission backlogs, siting fights, and supply chain gaps top the list.
The agency is investigating the company, along with Comcast and Verizon, over diversity practices.
Outdated permitting systems could stymie nuclear projects needed for tomorrow’s data centers, panelists said.