117 HR 4032 EH: Open RAN Outreach Act U.S. House of Representatives text/xml EN Pursuant to Title 17 Section 105 of the United States Code, this file is not subject to copyright protection and is in the public domain.

IB 117th CONGRESS1st Session H. R. 4032 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AN ACT To provide outreach and technical assistance to small providers regarding Open RAN networks, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the Open RAN Outreach Act.

2.

Outreach and technical assistance to small providers regarding Open RAN networks

(a)

In general

The Assistant Secretary shall conduct outreach and provide technical assistance to small communications network providers— (1)to raise awareness regarding the uses, benefits, and challenges of Open RAN networks and other open network architectures; and (2)regarding participation in the Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Grant Program established under section 9202(a)(1) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283). (b)

Definitions

In this section: (1)

Assistant Secretary

The term Assistant Secretary means the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information, acting through the head of the Office of Internet Connectivity and Growth. (2)

Open network architecture

The term open network architecture means Open RAN networks and other network elements that follow a set of published open standards for multi-vendor network equipment interoperability, including open core and open transport. (3)

Open RAN network

The term Open RAN network means a wireless network that follows the Open Radio Access Network approach to standardization adopted by the O–RAN Alliance, Telecom Infra Project, or Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), or any similar set of published open standards for multi-vendor network equipment interoperability.

Passed the House of Representatives October 20, 2021.Cheryl L. Johnson,Clerk.