Telcos to collaborate on Open RAN

JAPAN’S NTT Docomo Inc. announced on February 13 that it will participate in Open RAN verifications in the United States as the ACCoRD (acceleration of compatibility and commercialization for Open RAN Deployments) project in a consortium jointly founded with AT&T Inc. (AT&T), Verizon Communications Inc. (Verizon), and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (Jio).

This consortium was awarded a $42.3 million grant from the US Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) on February 12.

The consortium comprises telecom operators and US universities and suppliers include equipment vendors from the United States and abroad. It is committed to verifying multi-vendor Open RAN connectivity for further commercial deployments.

Leveraging its experiences and expertise in multi-vendor interoperability since the 4G era and Open RAN deployment in 5G networks, Docomo will contribute to the realization of integration and interoperability between major and emerging vendors with its consortium partners.

The grant program, part of the Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund established by the Chips and Science Act of 2022 in the United States, is aimed at promoting open and interoperable solutions in the wireless communication equipment market, stimulating the ecosystem, and providing grants to activities advancing verification, adoption and deployment of such technology and equipment.

Going forward, Docomo will contribute to supporting operators in their adoption of Open RAN through this consortium and the company’s Open RAN service brand OREX.