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NTIA Invests $273M in 7 Open Radio Unit Projects
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NTIA Invests $273M in 7 Open Radio Unit Projects

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The National Telecommunications and Information Administration, or NTIA, has awarded over $273 million in grants to seven projects aimed at developing open and interoperable wireless networks.

The NTIA said Friday the grants, meant to support projects involving open radio unit hardware commercialization, are from the second Notice of Funding Opportunity of the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. NTIA will award another $146 million in grants this winter.

Open Radio Unit Projects

The NTIA required applicants to collaborate with a mobile network operator, or MNO, to help commercialize their products. The chosen projects are:

  • American Ruggedized Modular O-RAN Radio by JMA Wireless, which received $43.9 million, aims to support energy-efficient variants of open radio units.
  • Wireless Heart of America by Abside Networks was given $46.8 million to support the development of Very-Large-Array Massive Multiple Input / Multiple Output Open Radio Units, or mMIMO ORUs.
  • Battelle Memorial Institute’s RavenStar Open Radio Unit project was granted $37.8 million for developing mMIMO ORUs with advanced radio frequency front end and digital signal processing.
  • Microelectronics Technology will have $35 million to work on five Open RAN Macro Radios for Operation with four worldwide mobile network operators.
  • The Miracle RU: Eridan by Eridan Communications received $36.8 million to hasten the development of a light, power-efficient and cost-efficient Open RAN small-cell radio unit.
  • Solid Gear’s Multi-Operator Radio Access Network-capable O-RAN Radio Unit Point of Interface embedded in Distributed Antenna System will have $27.7 million in funds.
  • Nokia of America was awarded $45 million for its ORU Commercialization proposal.

Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo stated, “To out-compete and out-build the rest of the world, we need to ensure we’re tapping into every resource to unleash U.S. innovation, which is precisely what these federal dollars will do by boosting the development of open and interoperable wireless networks.”