Novocomms secures £3.6m grant to develop 5g tech

The new grant will enable the Birmingham-based company to recruit up to ten electronic engineers

A Birmingham firm has secured £3.6 million in new funding to help it develop the next generation of antenna technology.

Novocomms has received the funding from the Government’s Small Business Research Initiative to work on new 5G mmWave consumer premises equipment.

5G is the latest cellular wireless technology and mmWave refers to a radio spectrum range which is best used in densely populated areas across shorter distances.

The new grant will enable Novocomms to recruit up to ten electronic engineers, with the eventual potential to create a further 50 production jobs, assuming the new technology is successful.

Aimed at the global market for premises that require high band widths but cannot access alternatives such as fibre optic, the creation of the consumer premises equipment is important to the UK’s digital communications sector as it lessens its reliance on overseas suppliers.

High-speed equipment is available on the market but many manufacturers are using existing technology for which may not deliver the full potential of 5G at mmWave frequencies.

Novocomms now plans to deliver a new product over the next year.

Founder Sampson Hu said: “We’re delighted to have secured this funding as it gives us the vital support we need to develop new technologies that will be used across the world.

“This is not simply research and development but is linked commercially to our belief that the global market for 5G mmWave devices is enormous.

“Our predictions on the huge potential for this technology were re-confirmed at this year’s Mobile World Congress, where there was a lot of interest in the adoption of 28 GHz.

“Novocomms started working on the project in April 2024 and is planning to employ up to ten additional electronic engineers to help deliver the project.

Source: https://www.business-live.co.uk/technology/novocomms-secures-36m-grant-develop-29334804