Dish Network is seeking to build an Open RAN ecosystem around itself just as Rakuten has in Japan, though whether this will result in a platform that Dish will commercialize externally remains to be seen. Its high profile threatens to usurp AT&T’s traditional role as the perceived leader in driving open network initiatives in the USA, but both operators are working together to accelerate progress in the market. Together with CableLabs, the R&D arm of the US cable providers, the two operators hosted O-RAN Alliance ‘PoCFests’ earlier this year. These provided testing and interoperability events, but claimed to go beyond mere plugfests by spawning full proof-of-concept (PoC) trials too. These activities took place across four locations as part…