NTIA Opens $420M Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund
Announcement Type: Notice of Funding Opportunity
Opportunity: Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (Innovation Fund) - Open Radio Commercialization and Innovation
Overview and Eligible Uses: The NTIA Innovation Fund aims to promote competition and innovation in telecommunications, lower costs for consumers and operators, and improve wireless technology supply chains by creating opportunities for innovative small and medium companies.
This NOFO will support two “specific research focus areas” (SFRAs):
Open Radio Unit Commercialization - this SFRA aims to accelerate development of open radio unit products towards commercialization
Open Radio Unit Innovation - this SFRA supports research and development activities to improve open radio unit performance and capabilities
Funding for this program comes from the CHIPS and Science Act.
Amount: A total of $420M is available under this NOFO, with award sizes varying by SFRA:
SFRA 1 - Commercialization: award sizes range between $25M and $45M
SFRA 2 - Innovation: awards sizes range between $5M and $10M
Award Type: Grants
Eligible Applicants: Eligibile entities include for both SFRAs include for-profit entities, nonprofits, higher education institutions, industry groups, and partnerships of the above. For SFRA 1, applicants must partner with at least one mobile network operator
Key Dates: Applications are due July 10, 2024
Key Links:
For a full list of currently available grant programs under the Infrastructure Law and other helpful tools, take a look at our Helpful Resources page.
This tracker will continue to send updates when new funding opportunities are announced.