WASHINGTON – Today, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), in collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD), announced the final winners of the 2023 5G Challenge and its $7,000,000 total prize purse.
The 2023 5G Challenge, a collaboration between DoD and NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) in Boulder, Colo., aims to accelerate the adoption of open interfaces, interoperable subsystems, secure networks, and modular multi-vendor solutions toward the development of an open 5G ecosystem. Such an ecosystem will result in a more competitive and diverse telecommunications supply chain, lower costs for consumers and network operators, and bolster U.S. leadership in the wireless sector.
NTIA has awarded $3,000,000, the largest of the 2023 5G Challenge total prize purse, to the Stage Four: Mobility winning contestant team, Lions-NewEdge-Mavenir-Radisys. Two teams successfully completed Stage Four: the winning team and a second mobility team, Capgemini-JMA Wireless-QCT/Benetel. A tiebreaker determined the mobility prize winner.
“America needs to lead the way to a diverse, resilient, and competitive global telecommunications supply chain,” said Assistant Secretary of Commerce and NTIA Administrator Alan Davidson. “This year’s 5G Challenge winners, through their groundbreaking interoperability and mobility demonstrations, have provided a glimpse of that future. I congratulate the winners and all participants for their work in advancing this field.”
The 2023 5G Challenge focused on testing interfaces among the Open RAN-specified subsystems and end-to-end integration, as well as testing handovers between different vendors.
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NTIA/ITS additionally announced the following 2023 5G Challenge prizes winners:
- Wrap-around Emulation Prizes of $100,000 to Capgemini, Fujitsu, GXC, JMA Wireless, Lions, Mavenir, NewEdge, QCT/Benetel and Radisys,
- Multi-Vendor End-To-End (E2E) Integration 1st place prize of $750,000 and additional lab time to Capgemini and QCT/Benetel,
- Multi-Vendor End-To-End (E2E) Integration 2nd place prize of $250,000 to Radisys and Lions,
- Two Best in Show SBOM and VEX winners of $100,000 and security testing to Fujitsu and JMA Wireless, and
- Best in Show Collaborator winner of $20,000 and security testing to Lions.
The 2023 5G Challenge competition was the second of two. In this second-year event, ITS awarded a $7,000,000 prize purse to contestants who successfully integrated hardware and/or software solutions for one or both 5G network subsystems:
- Combined Central Unit (CU) + Distributed Unit (DU)
- Radio Unit (RU)
ITS, the Nation’s Spectrum and Communications Lab, supports the Department of Defense 5G Initiative through a combination of its subject matter experts in 5G and its research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) laboratory infrastructure in Boulder, Colorado, including the Advanced Communications Test Site at the Table Mountain Radio Quiet Zone.
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About the National Telecommunications and Information Administration
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is the Executive Branch agency that advises the President on telecommunications and information policy issues. NTIA’s programs and policymaking focus largely on expanding broadband Internet access and adoption in America, expanding the use of spectrum by all users, advancing public safety communications, and ensuring that the Internet remains an engine for innovation and economic growth.