The University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre (5GIC), an academically-anchored partner ecosystem comprising researchers, network equipment vendors, operators and other stakeholders, gained a new partner this week in Cambridge Broadband Networks (CBNL), which specializes in point-to-multipoint microwave and millimeter wave transmissions. Millimeter wave spectrum can support the high capacity–albeit with challenging propagation characteristics–associated with the emerging 5G standard.
In terms of likely millimeter wave deployments, the focus in the U.S., led by AT&T and Verizon, is on the 28 GHz and 39 GHz bands with an emphasis on using millimeter waves to provide 5G fixed wireless access, effectively solving for the time-consuming and costly need of deploying fiber to the home or to the premises. CBNL has extensive experience with the 39 GHz band and the 26 GHz band, the latter of which a target 5G band in Europe.
That experience will help further the goals of the 5GIC Head Rahim Tafazolli said, noting the group has “already identified 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz as priority areas of study and look forward to working CBNL…to assess and develop new technologies. CBNL’s expertise will undoubtedly help us progress towards the next generation of wireless technology and our 5G future.”
In a statement, CBNL CEO Lionel Chmilewsky hit on the firm’s work with operators “to deploy some of the first pre-5G fixed wireless networks in the U.S. and have seen first-hand the multi-gigabit potential this high band spectrum holds.”
The 5GIC launched in 2015 with more than $100 million in funding. Members include Vodafone, Telefonica, Huawei, EE, Samsung, BT, Cobham, the BBC, Rohde & Schwarz, Anite and more.
In July, the University of Surrey, along with the University of Bristol and King’s College London, received a shared $21 million grant meant to establish a 5G test network with the goal of rapid commercialization of the as-yet unstandardized network technology.
