Telecommunications Supply Chain Diversity Promotion Act

II 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1563 To establish an open network architecture testbed at the Institute for Tele- communication Sciences of the National Telecommunications and Infor- mation Administration to develop and demonstrate network architectures and applications, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 11, 2021 Mr. WICKER (for himself and Mr. HICKENLOOPER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To establish an open network architecture testbed at the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration to develop and demonstrate network architectures and ap- plications, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Telecommunications 4 Supply Chain Diversity Promotion Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. OPEN NETWORK ARCHITECTURE. 6 (a) OPEN NETWORK ARCHITECTURE TESTBED.— 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1563 IS (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection— 1 (A) the term ‘‘Applied Research Open- 2 RAN testbed’’ means the testbed established 3 under paragraph (2); 4 (B) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means 5 the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Com- 6 munications and Information; and 7 (C) the term ‘‘NTIA’’ means the National 8 Telecommunications and Information Adminis- 9 tration. 10 (2) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Assistant Secretary 11 shall establish an applied research open network ar- 12 chitecture testbed at the Institute for Telecommuni- 13 cation Sciences of the NTIA to develop and dem- 14 onstrate network architectures and applications, 15 equipment integration and interoperability at scale, 16 including— 17 (A) Open Radio Access Network (com- 18 monly known as ‘‘Open-RAN’’) technology; 19 (B) Virtualized Radio Access Network 20 (commonly known as ‘‘vRAN’’) technology; and 21 (C) cloud native technologies that replicate 22 telecommunications hardware as software-based 23 virtual network elements and functions. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1563 IS (3) FOCUS; CONSIDERATIONS.—In establishing 1 the Applied Research Open-RAN testbed pursuant 2 to this section, the Assistant Secretary shall ensure 3 that such testbed evaluates issues related to deploy- 4 ment and operation of open network architectures in 5 rural areas. 6 (4) COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOP- 7 MENT AGREEMENTS.—The Assistant Secretary shall 8 enter into cooperative research and development 9 agreements as appropriate to obtain equipment, de- 10 vices, and expertise for the Applied Research Open- 11 RAN testbed, in accordance with section 12 of the 12 Stevenson-Wydler Technology Innovation Act of 13 1980 (15 U.S.C. 3710a). 14 (5) PRIVATE SECTOR CONTRIBUTIONS.—The 15 Assistant Secretary may accept private contributions 16 to the Applied Research Open-RAN testbed in the 17 form of network equipment or devices for testing 18 purposes. 19 (6) PARTNERSHIP WITH GOVERNMENT ENTI- 20 TIES.— 21 (A) ESTABLISHMENT.—In establishing the 22 Applied Research Open-RAN testbed, the As- 23 sistant Secretary shall— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1563 IS (i) consult with the Federal Commu- 1 nications Commission, including with re- 2 spect to ongoing work by the Commission 3 to develop other testbeds, including private 4 sector testbeds, related to Open-RAN tech- 5 nologies; and 6 (ii) ensure that the work on the 7 testbed is coordinated with the responsibil- 8 ities of the Assistant Secretary under any 9 relevant memorandum of understanding 10 with the Federal Communications Commis- 11 sion and the National Science Foundation 12 related to spectrum. 13 (B) OPERATIONS.—In operating the Ap- 14 plied Research Open-RAN testbed, the Assist- 15 ant Secretary shall, in consultation with the 16 Federal Communications Commission, partner 17 with— 18 (i) the First Responder Network Au- 19 thority of the NTIA (also known as 20 ‘‘FirstNet’’) and the Public Safety Com- 21 munications Research Division of the Na- 22 tional Institute of Standards and Tech- 23 nology to examine use cases and applica- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1563 IS tions for Open-RAN technologies in a pub- 1 lic safety network; 2 (ii) other Federal agencies, as appro- 3 priate to examine use cases and applica- 4 tions for Open-RAN technologies in other 5 areas of interest to such agencies; and 6 (iii) international partners, as appro- 7 priate. 8 (7) STAKEHOLDER INPUT.—The Assistant Sec- 9 retary shall seek input from stakeholders regarding 10 the establishment and operation of the Applied Re- 11 search Open-RAN testbed. 12 (8) IMPLEMENTATION DEADLINE.—Not later 13 than 180 days after the date of enactment of this 14 Act, the Assistant Secretary shall— 15 (A) define metrics and parameters for the 16 Applied Research Open-RAN testbed, including 17 functionality, project configuration and capac- 18 ity, performance, security requirements, and 19 quality assurance; 20 (B) adopt any rules as necessary, in con- 21 sultation with the Federal Communications 22 Commission; and 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •S 1563 IS (C) begin the development of the Applied 1 Research Open-RAN testbed, including seeking 2 stakeholder input as required by paragraph (7). 3 (9) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 4 date of enactment of this Act, the Assistant Sec- 5 retary shall submit to the Committee on Commerce, 6 Science, and Transportation of the Senate and the 7 Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House 8 of Representatives a report on the findings of the 9 testbed and any recommendations for additional leg- 10 islative or regulatory actions relating to the work of 11 the testbed. 12 (10) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 13 (A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to 14 be appropriated for the administration of the 15 Applied Research Open-RAN testbed 16 $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, to remain 17 available until expended. 18 (B) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 19 paragraph (6) shall be construed to obligate 20 FirstNet or any other Federal entity to pay for 21 the cost of the Applied Research Open-RAN 22 testbed created under this section in the ab- 23 sence of the appropriation of amounts under 24 this paragraph. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •S 1563 IS (C) AUTHORIZATION FOR VOLUNTARY SUP- 1 PORT.—A Federal entity, including FirstNet, 2 may voluntarily enter into an agreement with 3 NTIA to provide monetary or nonmonetary sup- 4 port for the Applied Research Open-RAN 5 testbed. 6 (b) PARTICIPATION IN STANDARDS-SETTING BOD- 7 IES.— 8 (1) DEFINITIONS.—In this section— 9 (A) the term ‘‘Assistant Secretary’’ means 10 the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Com- 11 munications and Information; 12 (B) the term ‘‘eligible standards-setting 13 body’’— 14 (i) means a standards-setting body, 15 participation in which may be funded by a 16 grant awarded under paragraph (2), as de- 17 termined by the Assistant Secretary; and 18 (ii) includes— 19 (I) the 3rd Generation Partner- 20 ship Project (commonly known as 21 ‘‘3GPP’’); 22 (II) the Alliance for Tele- 23 communications Industry Solutions 24 (commonly known as ‘‘ATIS’’); 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:21 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •S 1563 IS (III) the International Tele- 1 communications Union (commonly 2 known as ‘‘ITU’’); 3 (IV) the Institute for Electrical 4 and Electronics Engineers (commonly 5 known as ‘‘IEEE’’); 6 (V) the World 7 Radiocommunications Conferences 8 (commonly known as the ‘‘WRC’’) of 9 the ITU; 10 (VI) the Internet Engineering 11 Task Force (commonly known as the 12 ‘‘IETF’’); 13 (VII) the International Organiza- 14 tion for Standardization (commonly 15 known as the ‘‘ISO’’) and the Inter- 16 national Electrotechnical Commission 17 (commonly known as the ‘‘IEC’’); 18 (VIII) the O-RAN Alliance; 19 (IX) the Telecommunications In- 20 dustry Association (commonly known 21 as ‘‘TIA’’); and 22 (X) any other standards-setting 23 body identified under paragraph (4); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •S 1563 IS (C) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec- 1 retary of Commerce; and 2 (D) the term ‘‘standards-setting body’’ 3 means an international body that develops the 4 standards for open network architecture tech- 5 nologies. 6 (2) GRANT PROGRAM.— 7 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, in col- 8 laboration with the Assistant Secretary, shall 9 award grants to private sector entities based in 10 the United States to participate in eligible 11 standards-setting bodies. 12 (B) PRIORITIZATION.—The Secretary shall 13 prioritize grants awarded under this section to 14 private sector entities that would not otherwise 15 be able to participate in eligible standards-set- 16 ting bodies without the grant. 17 (3) GRANT CRITERIA.—Not later than 180 days 18 after the date on which amounts are appropriated 19 under paragraph (5), the Secretary, in collaboration 20 with the Assistant Secretary, shall establish criteria 21 for the grants awarded under paragraph (2). 22 (4) CONSULTATION WITH FEDERAL COMMU- 23 NICATIONS COMMISSION.—The Secretary shall con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •S 1563 IS sult with the Federal Communications Commission 1 in— 2 (A) determining criteria for the grants 3 awarded under paragraph (2); and 4 (B) determining which standards-setting 5 bodies, if any, in addition to the standards-set- 6 ting bodies listed in paragraph (1)(B)(ii) are el- 7 igible standards-setting bodies. 8 (5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 9 (A) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to 10 be appropriated for grants under paragraph (2) 11 $30,000,000 in total for fiscal years 2022 12 through 2025, to remain available until ex- 13 pended. 14 (B) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS.—The Sec- 15 retary may use not more than 2 percent of any 16 funds appropriated under this paragraph for 17 the administration of the grant program estab- 18 lished under this subsection. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:20 Jun 03, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1563.IS S1563 khammond on DSKJM1Z7X2PROD with BILLS