116 HR 4032 RH: Open RAN Outreach Act U.S. House of Representatives 2021-06-22 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.

IBUnion Calendar No. 110117th CONGRESS1st SessionH. R. 4032[Report No. 117–150]IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVESJune 22, 2021Mr. Allred (for himself, Mr. O'Halleran, Mr. Hudson, and Mr. Guthrie) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and CommerceOctober 19, 2021Additional sponsors: Mr. McNerney, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Soto, and Mr. TaylorOctober 19, 2021Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printedStrike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italicFor text of introduced bill, see copy of bill as introduced on June 22, 2021A BILLTo provide outreach and technical assistance to small providers regarding the benefits of 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.

Amend the title so as to read: A bill to provide outreach and technical assistance to small providers regarding Open RAN networks, and for other purposes..October 19, 2021Reported with amendments, committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union, and ordered to be printed