EchoStar (NASDAQ: SATS) announced the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contract period of performance extension for the continued deployment of standalone 5G networks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) in Hawaii and at the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) in Washington State. The contract extension builds on the award for NASWI in 2021 and additional expansion at JBPHH in 2022, extending both through 2025 with additional 5G enhancements.
EchoStar is a premier advocate for Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) use in DoD networks. The company recently won a $50 million NTIA grant to build an O-RAN test center, Inside Towers reported. EchoStar’s satellite subsidiary Hughes Network Systems leads the deployments as the prime contractor. Hughes will integrate the standards-based, private 5G terrestrial networks with its global LEO/GEO satellite connectivity. The integrated network is managed by embedded network operations centers and security operations capabilities.
Dr. Rajeev Gopal, Hughes VP-Advanced Programs said, “Together, the NASWI and Hawaii site configurations demonstrate the power of 5G standalone O-RAN networks to support increasingly automated base operations, securely and with the resilience necessary to maintain information assurance in any circumstance.”
The project is using O-RAN infrastructure and engineering expertise along with EchoStar’s 5G spectrum. The network configuration includes Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) transport routers, switches, and firewalls; Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL) computing infrastructure; JMA Wireless radio access network; Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) edge cloud stack and Xeon processors; and, Boingo Wireless site survey and network installation services.
“The DoD’s extension of the 5G award is a validation of the EchoStar bench of engineering expertise and our ability to customize solutions using best available technologies across terrestrial and non-terrestrial systems,” comments Rick Lober, Hughes Defense VP/GM. “We are proud to join our industry partners in architecting, deploying, and operating the prototype networks that will set the foundation for 5G standalone O-RAN and resilient networks for the DoD going forward.”
The initial NASWI standalone 5G network deployment was completed almost a year ago. That private 5G network improves aircraft readiness by enabling immediate, real-time communication coordination across the flight line to reduce maintenance time and decrease preparation time between missions.
Both deployments are designed to meet the National Security Agency’s Commercial Solution for Classified requirements.
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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