As the race to deploy 5G intensifies in Asia, a branch of the Singapore government has invested in Transcelestial, a neighborhood startup developing low-cost networking equipment.
Founded in 2016, Transcelestial develops devices that use laser technology to transmit data between one another, slightly than fiber optic cables. The company says the devices, that are concerning the size of a shoebox and mounted on poles or cell towers, are easier to establish and cheaper than laying fiber optic cables in a city.
The cost of constructing 5G telecommunications infrastructure is taken into account the foremost challenge for network operators. 5G requires a dense network of base stations since it uses radio waves that don’t reach so far as 4G. Rohit Jha, co-founder and CEO of Transcelestial, said that with this product, telcos can deploy fiber to 5G networks at as much as 90% cheaper per kilometer.
Transcelestial conducted tests with the South Korean company SK Telecom and operators from Southeast Asia. Bad weather conditions are a key obstacle to the deployment of laser technology, but the corporate says its devices operate in conditions of heavy rain and thick fog.
The $9.6 million fund was provided by Singapore’s EDBI, the investment arm of the federal government’s Economic Development Board, and enterprise capital firm Wavemaker Partners. Airbus Ventures, the enterprise capital arm of European aircraft manufacturer Airbus, and other recent and existing investors also participated within the project. Transcelestial said it will use the proceeds to extend production of its devices.
The deal signals Singapore’s ambitions to develop indigenous telecommunications technology at a time when political concerns are growing over Huawei Technologies, a number one Chinese telecommunications equipment maker embroiled within the US-China trade war.
Source: Asia Nikkei Review
