Biden-Harris Administration Announces $420 Million Funding Opportunity to Promote Wireless Equipment Innovation

The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) announced that up to $420 million in funding will be made available to build the radio equipment needed to advance open network adoption in the US and abroad. This is the second Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund and this NOFO aims to drive commercialization and innovation in open radio units. Radio units, which sit at the top of cell phone towers to transmit and receive signals, are the largest and most costly part of the carrier network. Making more open radio units available is critical to spur open network adoption. This second round of funding targets two critical areas:

• Open radio unit commercialization: Accelerating the development of open radio units to the point where they meet the needs of wireless carriers and are ready for commercial trials; and
• Open radio unit innovation: Improving the overall performance and capabilities of open radio units through targeted research and development.

NTIA expects to grant between $25 million and $45 million per commercialization award, and $5 million to $10 million per innovation award. Applications are due July 10.