VIAVI Solutions (NASDAQ: VIAV), based in Chandler, AZ, announced that NTIA has awarded the company a grant from the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund’s first Notice of Funding Opportunity. The $21.7 million, three-year performance grant is for the VIAVI Automated Lab-as-a-Service for Open RAN (VALOR). This announcement follows an earlier NTIA award to DISH Wireless for its Open RAN testing lab, Inside Towers reported.
VALOR is based on VIAVI’s NITRO Wireless test portfolio, delivered through Lab-as-a-Service and Test-as-a-Service models. VALOR is designed to manage and support 5G and Open RAN projects by giving mobile network operators access to tools and expert staff to help minimize the network ramp-up time.
VIAVI provides dedicated engineers (onsite or offsite), automated test processes, access to comprehensive testing capabilities and expertise, standard and customized tools and libraries, and assistance with demonstrations.
With the grant, VALOR allows Open RAN component providers to leverage Lab-as-a-Service in a cost-effective way, regardless of the scale of a component provider’s operation.
“[This] grant … will make Open RAN testing accessible, affordable, and sustainable for the entire ecosystem,” said Oleg Khaykin, VIAVI President and CEO. “Open RAN is critical to securing the telecommunications supply chain of our nation, but the inherent openness and flexibility of this technology also brings about complexities. VIAVI is committed to certification, benchmarking, optimization, and verification to enhance the efficiency, automation, and security of Open RAN systems.”
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