Strengthening American Communications Leadership With Open Radio Access Networks
Today, marked another milestone in the evolution of Open RAN as Mavenir joined other industry leaders and testified before the Communications and Technology Subcommittee in the U.S. House of Representatives at a hearing entitled, “Leveraging American Communications Leadership with Open Radio Access Networks.”
The hearing highlighted Mavenir’s leadership in Open RAN and our work on 19 trials and deployments worldwide, including here in the U.S. with DISH’s 5G network and with Triangle Communications in Montana. Testifying alongside John were Jeff Blum, Executive Vice President, External & Government Affairs, DISH; Diane Rinaldo, Executive Director, Open RAN Policy Coalition; and Kristian Toivo, Executive Director, Telecom Infra Project.
In representing Mavenir, my testimony, highlighted three key points:
- Open RAN is a proven solution that offers operators a diversified supply chain;
- An Open RAN certification process is needed to prevent vendor lock for 5G and beyond; and
- Increased investment, creative solutions, and close collaboration between the public and private sectors can help ensure Open RAN’s success.
I’ve previously testified before the same subcommittee in 2021 and used today’s hearing to highlight Open RAN’s momentum and worldwide acceptance over the past three years.
As clearly articulated in the testimony:
“There is no question that Open RAN is a proven, secure, and innovative solution … [that] brings resiliency, energy efficiency, and security to networks,”
John Baker, Senior Vice President Business Development, Mavenir.
It’s important to also recognize the U.S. Congress and federal government’s strong support of Open RAN and we call on the government to help drive the entire ecosystem forward and increase competitiveness by supporting Open RAN radio manufacturing in the U.S.; promoting price parity on semiconductor purchases so that small and mid-sized vendors can purchase chips at the same prices as larger vendors; and making investments that help achieve scale and promote test centers focused on certification and product validation.
Full testimony here.
