NextNav Inc. (Nasdaq: NN), a leader in next-generation terrestrial positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) and 3D geolocation solutions, today announced it has joined the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation, a collaborative initiative hosted by the Linux Foundation to advance open, secure, and interoperable Open RAN centralized unit and distributed unit (CU/DU) implementations. The OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation provides a critical mechanism for industry vendors to optimally guide OCUDU development to support 5G and early AI Native 6G services.
As a member, NextNav will collaborate with the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation community to shape the development, validation, and adoption of the 3GPP Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) within the Foundation’s OCUDU Technical Project code base — extending the open source RAN stack to natively support Integrated Sensing and Communications (ISAC) and PNT use cases in 5G and future 6G networks. NextNav brings almost 20 years of PNT technology development, including field-validated experience from operating the world’s first 5G PNT network, launched in Santa Clara, California.
“Resilient PNT is a national security imperative. We’re excited to partner with the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation and the Department of War’s FutureG Office to make ISAC and PNT built-in features of wireless networks,” said Santanu Dasgupta, NextNav’s Vice President of Product Development. “Scaling this requires an open, trusted foundation the whole industry can build on. Joining OCUDU brings NextNav’s technology into a broader community, ensuring PRS-based ISAC and PNT become native capabilities in open source 5G and 6G networks.”
By embedding PRS capabilities into an open source foundation, NextNav and the OCUDU Technical Project aim to accelerate a triple-purpose vision for public cellular, private wireless, and hybrid terrestrial/satellite networks, serving as a complement and backup to GPS.
“OCUDU EF was created to bring the industry together around open, secure, and interoperable CU/DU implementations for Open Source RAN,” said Arpit Joshiura, SVP and general manager, Networking, Edge and IoT, the Linux Foundation. “We’re pleased to welcome NextNav to the OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation and look forward to their contributions as we continue building a collaborative, vendor-neutral ecosystem that can accelerate real-world adoption of Open Source RAN infrastructure.”
A key objective of OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation is to create a public-private commercial and research ecosystem and an open source stack for open source CU and DU (part of Open source RAN) aimed at delivering the open source RAN infrastructure that will power the AI-native networks of the future. That vision is precisely where AI and the physical world converge. As AI systems increasingly depend on accurate knowledge of where and when events occur in the real world, resilient positioning and timing is quickly becoming foundational infrastructure. OCUDU Ecosystem Foundation’s AI-native Open Source RAN roadmap reflects that reality. PRS integration is a natural fit for enabling Physical AI, integrated sensing, and AI-driven optimization capabilities that will protect national security, public safety, and the economy.
About NextNav
NextNav Inc. (Nasdaq: NN) is a leader in next-generation 3D Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT) solutions. As the nation’s largest license holder in a spectrum band expressly designated for terrestrial positioning services, NextNav is uniquely positioned to enable a widescale terrestrial complement and backup to GPS. Leveraging licensed low-band spectrum and the global 5G ecosystem, NextNav is focused on delivering an accurate, reliable, and resilient 3D PNT solution to protect national security, public safety, and the economy. Learn more at www.nextnav.com.
For more information, please visit https://nextnav.com/ or follow NextNav on X at https://x.com/NextNav or LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/company/nextnav/.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “will,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe”, or other similar expressions that predict or indicate future events or trends or that are not statements of historical matters. These statements are based on various assumptions, whether or not identified in this press release, and on the current expectations of NextNav’s management and are not predictions of actual performance.
These forward-looking statements are also subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, the following factors: the failure to realize the anticipated benefits and commercial acceptance of NextNav’s technology in various industries (e.g., public safety, mobility, logistics); the possibility of difficulties or delays in the development, deployment, or integration of NextNav’s network and related software; adverse future regulatory developments, including potential actions by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) or other governmental agencies affecting spectrum allocation, location-based services, the use of licensed spectrum or requirements for E911 compliance; and NextNav’s ability to execute its business plan, manage growth, and achieve or sustain profitability. These are only some of the factors that may affect the forward-looking statements contained herein. For additional factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, see the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, “Risk Factors” in the company’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. If any of these risks materialize or NextNav’s assumptions prove incorrect, actual results could differ materially from the results implied by these forward-looking statements. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any such statements, which speak only as of the date made, and NextNav undertakes no commitment to update or revise the forward-looking statements, except where required by law.
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