Japan Backs Philippines’ Open RAN Lab with $3M Grant Amid USAID Shutdown
Japan last week stepped in to secure the future of the Philippines’ first Open RAN lab by committing to meet its funding needs. The news follows a recent meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, where both leaders reaffirmed their commitment to Open RAN. Despite this, the lab faced an uncertain future following the abrupt closure of USAID, who funded the project through its Better Access and Connectivity (BEACON) project.
To fill the gap left by the US agency, the Japanese government has announced a grant of JPY 444,000,000 (approximately $3,000,000) to cover the lab’s operational costs. South East Asia’s first Open RAN lab was launched to accelerate Open RAN adoption. It is hoped the facility will help lower barriers for new market entrants and train the skilled workforce needed to drive the future of telecom innovation in the region. The initiative also reflects a broader effort by the U.S. and its regional allies, especially Japan, to counter Chinese influence by promoting Open RAN as a viable alternative to solutions from Huawei and ZTE.
Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines, Endo Kazuya, commented, “in an age of rapid digitalization, efficient communications technologies are paramount to a country’s success and competitiveness. As an alternative to single vendor reliance, Open RAN allows for more players in key services and control in network management. This in turn, can lead to greater accessibility and lower costs in vital sector processes.”
This isn’t the first time the two countries have collaborated on an Open RAN project. In 2023, Smart was the first operator in the Philippines to successfully demo the technology, with support from Japanese operator NTT DOCOMO. Speaking at the time, Eric Santiago, FVP and Head of Network at PLDT and Smart said that “this is the best time for us to explore new and disruptive solutions in the telco industry that will pave the way for us to build the networks of the future. By future-proofing our network, we are looking to use the same hardware and software until we roll-out 6G in the future, fully maximizing our investments”.
Smart Wireless Network Head Debbie M. Hu echoed those sentiments at a ceremony held last month to mark the opening of the lab noting that “it will contribute significantly to advance open, interoperable, and disaggregated network technologies in the Philippines’. Ms Hu that “the lab’s systems will be made available for PLDT and Smart to support the companies’ technical capability development, testing, research, and collaborative studies essential in paving the way for future innovations”.paving the way for future innovations”.
