The Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) today announced that it is making up to $53 million available to accelerate development, testing, and deployment in accordance with its legal obligations under Section 9202(a)(1) of the William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act of 2021, President Trump’s AI Action Plan, and the Executive Order Promoting Exports of the U.S. AI Technology Stack. Commercialization of a U.S.-led secure AI-enabled radio access network (RAN) architecture.
This is the fourth Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) in the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund. The new NOFO (AI‑Native RAN Solution) fulfills Congressional directives to accelerate the commercialization and deployment of open, interoperable radio equipment and advances the Trump Administration’s goal of promoting a reliable, exportable U.S. AI technology stack that allows U.S. innovation to compete globally.
NOFO will prioritize projects that demonstrate both the technical performance and commercial viability of AI-native RAN technologies. Winners will be required to conduct a practical demonstration that generates data to confirm business case predictions. In accordance with the Innovation Fund’s legal requirements, applicants must propose solutions that meet 3GPP and O‑RAN specifications. To strengthen the competitiveness of trusted U.S. suppliers, projects must demonstrate how their architecture reduces operating costs, opens new revenue streams, and enables innovative third-party services. NOFO also emphasizes integrating cybersecurity into every layer of design and operations.
Applications open today, July 14, 2026, and close on September 9, 2026. NTIA plans to award awards sequentially starting in the fall.
Read the full press release here.
NTIA
