AT&T, Verizon part of new 31-member Open RAN Policy Coalition

A new coalition, backed by a wide range of players in the mobile ecosystem --, including U.S. operators AT&T and Verizon -- has formed to advocate for government policy that helps drive open radio access network (RAN) adoption to fund research and development of open and interoperable 5G networks. Executive director for the 31-member Open RAN Policy Coalition, launched today, is former Acting Administrator of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration Diane Rinaldo. She outlined some steps the group thinks policymakers can take to facilitate the open RAN ecosystem, including: support global development of open and interoperable wireless technologies; signal government support for open and interoperable solutions; use government procurement to support vendor diversity; and fund research and development. The new coalition is meant to complement standards work by the O-RAN Alliance and global deployments driven by Facebook’s Telecom Infra Project (TIP). Facebook is also a founding member of the collective, which TIP endorsed.