Open RAN Outreach Act

IIB 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4032 IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES OCTOBER 21, 2021 Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation AN ACT To provide outreach and technical assistance to small pro- viders regarding Open RAN networks, 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 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Oct 22, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4032.RFS H4032 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4032 RFS SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Open RAN Outreach 2 Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. OUTREACH AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE TO SMALL 4 PROVIDERS REGARDING OPEN RAN NET- 5 WORKS. 6 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Assistant Secretary shall con- 7 duct outreach and provide technical assistance to small 8 communications network providers— 9 (1) to raise awareness regarding the uses, bene- 10 fits, and challenges of Open RAN networks and 11 other open network architectures; and 12 (2) regarding participation in the Wireless Sup- 13 ply Chain Innovation Grant Program established 14 under section 9202(a)(1) of the William M. (Mac) 15 Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for 16 Fiscal Year 2021 (Public Law 116–283). 17 (b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 18 (1) ASSISTANT SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Assist- 19 ant Secretary’’ means the Assistant Secretary of 20 Commerce for Communications and Information, 21 acting through the head of the Office of Internet 22 Connectivity and Growth. 23 (2) OPEN NETWORK ARCHITECTURE.—The 24 term ‘‘open network architecture’’ means Open RAN 25 networks and other network elements that follow a 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Oct 22, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4032.RFS H4032 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4032 RFS set of published open standards for multi-vendor 1 network equipment interoperability, including open 2 core and open transport. 3 (3) OPEN RAN NETWORK.—The term ‘‘Open 4 RAN network’’ means a wireless network that fol- 5 lows the Open Radio Access Network approach to 6 standardization adopted by the O–RAN Alliance, 7 Telecom Infra Project, or Third Generation Partner- 8 ship Project (3GPP), or any similar set of published 9 open standards for multi-vendor network equipment 10 interoperability. 11 Passed the House of Representatives October 20, 2021. Attest: CHERYL L. JOHNSON, Clerk. VerDate Sep 11 2014 02:30 Oct 22, 2021 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4032.RFS H4032 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS