Open Radio Access Networks, or Open-RAN, have the potential to increase diversity of vendors in telecom ecosystems and resilient supply chains through greater network flexibility, quicker implementation of services and a pivot away from proprietary, vertically integrated end-to-end networks. With American adoption of O-RAN recently making headway, and with implementation underway globally, it may now be possible to assess whether O-RAN is delivering on these promised benefits, and glean important lessons for US telecom infrastructure investment.

With major investments in Open RAN included in the Public Wireless Fund passed as part of the CHIPS and Science Act (PL 117-167) and the first NTIA NOFO published and State’s ITSI fund communicating its objectives, the Wilson Center’s Science and Technology Innovation Program (STIP) seeks to highlight the state of global O-RAN deployments, and the impacts on policy conversations with regard to national security, supply chains, funding and beyond. Through a 60-minute panel, we will hear from global industry, US State Department, and other leaders on the status of global O-RAN deployment, policy considerations for O-RAN, and how industry is driving new engineering innovations to change how telecommunications infrastructure operates.