DARPA plans 4 year open source 5G program to address US security fears

US military research agency DARPA plans to launch an open source initiative to help secure upcoming 5G networks. OPS-5G aims to lead to the development of a portable standards-compliant network stack for 5G mobile that is open source and secure by design. The "long-term objective is a US-friendly ecosystem" featuring a trillion networked devices, a broad agency announcement for the four-year project states. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is looking for research partners for the Open Programmable Secure 5G program, which is expected to begin in October 2020 and span three phases - two 18 month stretches, followed by a 12 month final phase. "Standards processes are used to maintain interoperability required for a public network, and while many of the components and component behaviors of 5G have changed little from predecessors such as 4G and LTE, the standards for the most futuristic 5G features are those most in flux," a document detailing the project notes.