Mavenir Applauds President’s Announcement to Sign CHIPS + Science Bill That Will Advance Open RAN
Following last week’s passage by Congress of the CHIPS+Science bill aimed to boost “global” research, manufacturing, and innovation capabilities, Mavenir commends President Biden for announcing his plans to sign the legislation into law, which will enhance the global Open RAN ecosystem, advance deployments, and increase vendor diversity.
“The bill will boost competition, spur innovation, and increase network resiliency by accelerating the deployment of Open RAN,” said Pardeep Kohli, Mavenir’s Chief Executive Officer and President. “We applaud Congress and the White House for recognizing the need to secure, futureproof and diversify our wireless networks.”
The CHIPS+Science bill represents a historic and significant investment into the country’s research, manufacturing, and innovation sectors. Funding included in the new law will help strengthen and diversify the supply chain for wireless network technologies. Importantly, the law includes 1.5 billion for the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund and $500 million for the American International Technology Security and Innovation Fund. These investments will help accelerate the commercial deployments of Open RAN and strengthen wireless supply chains around the world.
Expanding Open Radio Access Networks (Open RAN) is the best way to accelerate global competitiveness and continue to lead in 5G. There has long been strong bipartisan support for this key solution to strengthen innovation, diversify the supply chain and promote competition.
Not only will the CHIPS+Science propel an entire ecosystem of companies to supply products and systems for the wireless supply chain, it will also strengthen American leadership in a sector in which its lagged for decades.
This is critical because today, all but three non US telecom suppliers are essentially locked out of the U.S. and global RAN market. Decades of consolidation have adversely affected competition, and networks built with proprietary equipment have locked vendors into supply contracts for a generation or more with the U.S. as the prized market in telecommunications with the highest margins and most profitability.
This new law will help change this dynamic by funding two programs – one at the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and one at the Department of State – to accelerate the commercial deployment of Open RAN globally, increasing competition and with it, supply chain diversity and network security. Diversifying suppliers increases the resilience of global networks and safeguards them from risks posed from a single supplier.
This strong action by Congress and the White House will accelerate the global development and deployment of Open RAN and serve as a catalyst for revolutionizing our networks both at home and abroad.
