GOLDEN, COLORADO, September 18, 2024 – The OpenAirInterface Foundation proudly announces its incorporation in the United States. The purpose of the Foundation is to support the creation of a self-sustaining open-source Open RAN (Radio Access Networks) ecosystem in the United States and to contribute to educating and training a new workforce using the OpenAirInterface (OAI) software. This initiative marks a significant step towards expanding the global footprint of OAI, which has been instrumental in the development and testing of 5G and beyond technologies worldwide. The OAI Foundation aims to collaborate with local stakeholders and address the specific needs of the North American community.

The Foundation was created upon encouragement from U.S.-based academic and industrial partners and several federal government entities. These discussions highlighted the increasing demand for cutting-edge open-source solutions in cellular networks, especially as the U.S. government and industry seek to accelerate the development of Open RAN technology. It was recognized that many users working in cellular networks and Open RAN are leveraging the OAI software. These users will benefit from a U.S.-based OpenAirInterface Foundation’s engineering team that will engage with them and support the development of their Open RAN use cases. A need for a self-reinforcing community with sustained training and induction of a workforce was also articulated.

As a leader in open-source wireless software, OpenAirInterface enables researchers, engineers, and telecom operators to access an extensive toolkit for prototyping and deploying 5G network solutions. This capability has made the platform invaluable not only for training new workforce on innovative network architectures like Open RAN but also for accelerating interoperability for industry partners. The Foundation is a not-for-profit entity with a board of strategic members whose role is to guide the organization in its engagements with federal government, academic, and industrial partners.

Raymond Knopp, President of the OpenAirInterface Foundation, had the following to say: “We are pleased to incorporate the Foundation at an opportune time, following consultations with our federal government colleagues and industrial and academic partners. Workforce development and technology translation are two important goals for the Foundation. We emphasize that for networks to grow, we need technological advances that require talented individuals. This talent must be developed from the ground up through university courses and internships where students can learn Open RAN network development and testing. To achieve this, we want to place the OpenAirInterface software and Foundation’s engineering team to the service of our North American partners, enabling them to learn, grow, and adapt the software according to their needs and to advance the Open RAN cause.”