The US Department of Defense (DoD) has tapped EchoStar's Hughes to construct a 5G Open RAN prototype at Fort Bliss, Texas.

Hughes, which is a unit of EchoStar, will install 5G Open RAN prototype equipment at Fort Bliss, a US Army post in El Paso. Announced last week, the contract totals $6.5 million.

The equipment will provide a temporary network for evaluation purposes, which will then transition to serve as part of the Hughes' commercial network supporting both DoD and commercial customers in and around Fort Bliss.

According to the DoD, the project is a joint effort of the US Army, the DoD Chief Information Officer (CIO), and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering (OUSD(R&E)).

The purpose of Open RAN networks is to enable providers to ‘mix and match’ their telecoms kit from multiple vendors. This covers radio, hardware, and software.

The US has been a big advocate of the technology, noting that the technology can help diversify supply chain security, vendor competition, and, innovation and cost efficiencies.

Market analyst firm Dell'Oro predicts that open RAN equipment will account for a quarter of the overall global cellular radio market by 2028.

"The Open RAN project at Fort Bliss is a valuable opportunity for the DoD to explore the enhanced command and control capabilities that near-real-time control of the RAN offers DoD," said Anthony Smith, DoD CIO's acting deputy chief information officer for command, control, & communications.

"The DoD CIO will continue to prioritize the deployment of Open RAN architectures and 5G across the Department, leveraging these information communications technologies for strategic warfighter advantage."

Hughes stated that the purpose of the 5G prototype is to test the RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) in the network at the base.

The Hughes network at Fort Bliss will trial how the RIC has the ability to rapidly change spectrum at the 5G control node, which the DoD notes is "a capability that has real-world relevance to resilient communications for a mobile command post."

Hughes previously opened its dedicated Open RAN test lab, ORCID (Open RAN Center for Integration & Deployment), at Dish's camp in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in July.

First announced in January, ORCID will test the hardware and software against a complete commercial-grade Open RAN network deployed by Dish Wireless.

The lab has been supported by a $50 million grant awarded to Dish Wireless, a subsidiary of EchoStar, by the US Department of Commerce's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

Earlier this year, US carrier Verizon kicked off construction of a new 5G cell tower at Fort Bliss Army Post.