The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) last Tuesday met with officials from the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) and the University of the Philippines-Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (UP-EEEI) for the establishment of the country’s first Open Radio Access Network (Open RAN) Lab at UP Diliman.

USAID assistant administrator for Asia Michael Schiffer led the discussions along with DICT Assistant Secretary Philip Varilla and UP-EEEI deputy director Jaybie de Guzman as they check on how the Lab — which will be housed at UP-EEEI — will provide hands-on training to current and aspiring local engineers and 5G professionals on how to design, build, test, and operate open networks.

“Open RAN networks in the United States have proven to be agile, rapidly deployable, and cost-efficient,” Schiffer said. “We want the Philippines to benefit from the same robust and secure network. The Open RAN Lab at UP Diliman will help develop talent to work on the Philippines’ own open network.”

He added that it is a new approach to network architecture that opens up the telecommunications network, allowing mobile network operators to choose the best products and solutions from a variety of vendors.

The approach can also help mobile network operators to advance security, foster greater innovation and competition, lower costs and facilitate 5G deployment.

Meantime, Vartilla welcomed the development, saying that innovations like Open RAN can help bridge the divide

“On our end, we commit to create a supportive policy and regulatory environment that will pave the way for efficient deployment of Open RAN technology,” Varilla said. “Advanced technologies like this will empower communities, foster economic growth, and position the Philippines at the forefront of digital innovation.”