EchoStar (Nasdaq: SATS) subsidiary Hughes Network Systems will continue to deploy Open Radio Access Network-based private 5G networks at military installations in Hawaii and Washington State through 2025 under a contract extension awarded by the Department of Defense.
The contract extension awarded by DOD’s Office of the Undersecretary for Research and Engineering covers the installation of ORAN-based 5G networks at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii and at the Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in Washington to help the department assess 5G applications and satellite communications resiliency, Hughes said Monday.
Hughes serves as the prime contractor overseeing the integration and deployment of edge cloud, radio access and packet processing core with zero trust architecture and satellite connectivity backed by security operations and security operations capabilities.
Apart from leveraging EchoStar’s 5G spectrum, Hughes also integrates related components and equipment from Cisco (Nasdaq: CSCO), Dell Technologies (NYSE: DELL), JMA Wireless, Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) and Boingo Wireless.
“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,” said Rick Lober, vice president and general manager of defense and government systems division at Hughes.
“We are proud to join our industry partners in architecting, deploying, and operating the prototype networks that will set the foundation for 5G standalone ORAN and resilient networks for the DoD going forward,” added Lober.
Find out the latest developments and trends in the field at the Potomac Officers Club’s 5G Forum on May 22. Register here to attend this important event.
