DISH Wireless, a subsidiary of EchoStar (NASDAQ:SATS), was awarded a historic $50-million grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to establish the Open RAN Center for Integration & Deployment (ORCID). ORCID will allow participants to test and validate their hardware and software solutions (RU, DU and CU) against a complete commercial-grade Open RAN network deployed by DISH.

Wednesday morning’s news release also said To date, this grant represents NTIA's largest award under the Public Wireless Supply Chain Innovation Fund (Innovation Fund). ORCID will be housed in DISH's secure Cheyenne, Wyoming campus and will be supported by consortium partners Fujitsu, Mavenir and VMware by Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVCO) and technology partners Analog Devices (NASDAQ:ADI), ARM (NASDAQ:ARM), Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), Dell Technologies (NYSE:DELL), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), JMA Wireless, NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NDVA), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) and Samsung.

"The Open RAN Center for Integration and Deployment (ORCID) will serve a critical role in strengthening the global Open RAN ecosystem and building the next generation of wireless networks," said EchoStar Chairman Charlie Ergen.

"By leveraging DISH's experience deploying the world's first standalone Open RAN 5G network, ORCID will be uniquely positioned to test and evaluate Open RAN interoperability, performance and security from domestic and international vendors. We appreciate NTIA's recognition of DISH and ORCID's role in driving Open RAN innovation and the Administration's ongoing commitment to U.S. leadership in wireless connectivity."

SATS shares popped $4.26, or 33.7%, to $16.92.