Future Technologies says the DoD private 5G orders support use cases including drones and AR/VR
U.S. industrial networks specialist Future Technologies has said it secured over $30 million in “private 5G related” projects with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) over the past 12 months. The announcement, to shore up its growing reputation as a leading private 4G/5G supplier in the U.S., follows a similar post in May that it scored $14 million of orders from the U.S. energy sector in 2023.
The firm said in January it had secured “several multi-million dollar” private 5G wins among Fortune 100 and 500 industrial firms, many in the manufacturing space, and a $150 million pipeline of new private 5G sales. Peter Cappiello, chief executive at Future Technologies, said: “Future Technologies is at a strategic inflection point in this market after 15 years of development, with over 2,500 square mileages of private cellular solutions delivered to date.”
The company has worked with the DoD for 15 years, already, it said, starting
with 2G to augment Land Mobile Radio systems, through 3G/4G for voice and data networks, and through the current era of optimized private 4G/5G systems. The new DoD private network orders are to support defense applications, including “connected warfighter”, surveillance drones, plus various AR/VR and AI use cases. “The Department of Defense is investing in private 5G networks to enhance security and control, which are crucial for handling sensitive communications and supporting advanced applications, like real-time data analytics and autonomous systems. These networks ensure operational continuity and enable the use of cutting-edge technologies,” it said in a statement.
It argued, as well, that the “scalability and flexibility” of private cellular infrastructure – in fixed, temporary, and mobile arrays – allows the DoD to adapt to changing operational demands. Future Technologies described various types of 5G deployments for the DoD, including prototype lab systems (for “development and integration of next generation use cases”), ‘deployable systems’ (“portable… [for] an outdoor test environment… [and] coverage augmentation to existing networks”), plus full Comms infrastructure and services for ‘test and training’ and army ‘base modernization’. It stated: “we support these infrastructure solutions as dedicated private networks (air gapped) and/or as hybrid public/private networks through collaborations with mobile operators.” It also provides spectrum management and device and SIM management.
Cappiello said: “We are uniquely positioned with our team of domain experts to support this growing market across the entire solution lifecycle, with capabilities to provide lab systems, deployable systems, and large macro coverage systems.”
Robert Justice, director of special projects, said: “Our mission is to deliver secure, reliable connectivity for the modern battlefield. Private 5G enhances operational continuity and provides unprecedented security, which is of utmost importance for these use cases.”