USAID/India Promotes Open, Secure, and Trusted Telecommunications

Today, USAID/India Mission Director Veena Reddy and U.S. Consul General in Hyderabad Jennifer Larson visited Qualcomm India’s ORAN Research Labs in Hyderabad to observe and highlight how the United States and India are collaborating to promote open, secure, and interoperable telecommunications infrastructure.  

USAID is partnering with Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a major American supplier of telecommunications hardware, to support local Indian telecommunications companies in testing new cutting-edge wireless technologies, including 5G and Open Radio Access Networks that source from interoperable, secure, and trusted vendors, with a potential reach of hundreds of millions.  This collaboration aims to enhance flexibility and innovation in India’s telecom sector and test solutions which have global applicability, with the additional promise of significant energy savings.

USAID Mission Director Veena Reddy said, “As emphasized during the G20 Leaders’ Summit, the United States and India share a vision of secure and trusted telecommunications, resilient supply chains, and global digital inclusion.  We are partnering with the private sector to enhance access to secure, less expensive, and more accessible wireless communications networks in India, with the goal of enhancing digital connectivity, bridging the digital divide, and boosting economic prosperity.”

This partnership is part of USAID’s Enterprises for Development, Growth, and Empowerment (EDGE) Fund, a $50 million fund launched to leverage the private sector's competitive edge to solve global challenges.  Selected activities across Africa, Asia, Europe, Eurasia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East will tap into the private sector’s expertise to confront challenges such as climate change, democratic backsliding, anti-corruption, food insecurity, and the need for inclusive economic growth.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power first announced the EDGE Fund at the 2023 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, as a first-of-its-kind public-private partnership fund to drive collaborative solutions and leverage core business interests and operations for inclusivity, resilience, and shared prosperity.  The EDGE Fund further enables USAID and the private sector to work together for more effective, efficient, and sustainable partnerships that address today’s global challenges.