Novocomms, the UK-based antenna specialist, has developed a ‘state-of-the-art’ 5G mmWave FWA solution.
According to the company this new solution will enable optical fibre data rates to be delivered to currently poorly served customers in rural, maritime and underserved areas. The development has been funded by the UK government’s Small Business Research Initiative, and the next-generation CPE device provides improved performance to existing products on the market, while benefitting from a significant reduction in unit cost. The FWA solution utilises a multi-beam, multi-polarisation, dynamically Metarray patented technology, that compliments current reconfigurable technology to achieve precise modulation of electromagnetic waves that enables a much more flexible beam configuration to be achieved, with a wide coverage area of 120 degrees in azimuth / 100 degrees in elevation. Commenting on the project, the company’s founder Dr. Sampson Hu said, “The global market for mmWave CPE devices is expected to reach £12.5 billion by 2028, so this is certainly a high value segment that is growing rapidly right now. This new product that we have developed with the backing of the SBRI represents a real step forward in performance for the sector, but crucially at a significantly lower cost of production. “Harnessing our knowledge of advanced antenna design, component optimisation and the use of materials such as silicon differentiates our solution in a market that is so far characterised by expensive, power hungry or technically limited alternatives.” Delivering improved capabilities across all key metrics, in tests the Novocomms FR2 CPE achieved: A frequency range of 24 GHz to 71 GHz (with multiple antenna solutions) Support for dual linear polarisation Beam scanning of ±60° in azimuth and ±50° in elevation Up to 60% lower power consumption compared with existing industry solutions Up to 30% lower cost compared with existing industry solutions The new solution is now entering its pilot deployment and early validation stage, prior to commercia launch and production scale-up, which is expected in early 2026.