Networking prototype from Hughes will get tryout at U.S. Army post
NewsNovember 21, 2024
DENVER, Colo. Hughes Network Systems (an EchoStar Corp. subsidiary) won a $6.5 million contract to deploy a 5G open radio access network (ORAN) prototype at U.S. Army post Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas that will feature a RAN intelligent ccontroller (RIC) aimed at enabling the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to test RIC-based software applications for military networks.
The 5G Open RAN prototype equipment will be installed on Fort Bliss, according to the EchoStar statement, as a way to operate a temporary network for evaluation purposes, which will then transition to serve as part of the Hughes commercial network that supports both DoD and commercial customers in and around Fort Bliss.
The RIC, which acts as a platform for various software applications, will enable the company and the defense users to test various RAN applications; the main use case that the Fort Bliss prototype is intended to test is the ability to rapidly change spectrum at the 5G control node, a capability that has real world relevance to resilient communications for a mobile command post. Hughes sources said that this contract is important to the DoD as it moves ahead with its recently announced 5G Implementation Plan.
The project is a joint effort of the U.S. Army, the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO), and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering [OUSD(R&E)].
