NTIA’s Next Innovation Fund Round Likely to Focus on Software

LAS VEGAS, Oct. 15, 2024 – The third round of the Commerce Department’s Wireless Innovation Fund is set to open up around $400 million in funding for software projects, the head of the Open RAN Policy Coalition said Tuesday.

“They are preparing a third NOFO for early next year that’s going to be dealing with software. They’re still in the process of drafting that, but it should be in the realm of $400 million,” Diane Rinaldo said here at WISPAPALOOZA.

A spokesperson confirmed the new funding announcement is slated for early 2025, but didn’t comment on the amount or nature of the funding.

The $1.5 billion CHIPS and Science Act fund is aimed at standing up an open radio access network marketplace, in which generic networks components and their software can be mixed and matched. It’s an effort to provide an alternative, both domestically and abroad, to Chinese manufactures that U.S. lawmakers have deemed security threats.

The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, tasked with managing the fund, has awarded $140 million so far for improving testing methods and facilities. Applicants for the second $420 million round of funding sought nearly $3 billion for testing interoperable radio units and bringing them to market. 

Amanda Toman, director of the NTIA fund, said at a listening session last month that NTIA is planning to make all its awards from the second funding round by the end of the year.

Despite the government being all-in, the open RAN space is still nascent for now. AT&T, an Open RAN Policy Coalition member, announced last year a $14 billion deal with Ericsson that’s aiming to put 70 percent of the carrier’s traffic on open equipment by 2026, but AT&T has only hinted at adding other large vendors to the mix so far. 

EchoStar opened an open RAN testing facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming this summer with the help of a $50 million grant from the first round of Innovation Fund awards. The company has fewer subscribers than the dominant wireless carriers, but does operate a nationwide open RAN network. It received an extension from the FCC to meet 5G deployment deadlines as the company works to avoid bankruptcy.