Global telecoms faces a double-edged challenge. The industry must meet incessant demand for higher-performing connectivity, while at the same time reducing operational costs and improving the carbon footprint of networks.

But the solutions are out there. We’ve seen extraordinary advances in wireless technology. And now, the converging trends of industry 4.0, private networks and the industrial metaverse are reshaping the marketplace and offering up transformative opportunities – including highly automated industrial applications and immersive customer experiences.

We are helping telecommunications organisations to seize these new revenues and rise to ESG imperatives such as reducing carbon emissions. Accelerating the dream of net zero can be a reality.

What we do

We help telco leaders open and launch into new markets by extending the reach of connectivity. Blending deep domain knowledge with multidisciplinary technology expertise, our teams of telecoms consultants and engineers are able to help direct the ambitions of companies into new markets and serve complex novel use cases.

We’ll work alongside you at every stage of the innovation cycle… exploring new business opportunities, selecting the optimal technology path, and engineering entirely new wireless systems at scale.

Wireless technology development

What does it take to achieve market-leading network performance for terrestrial and non-terrestrial networks? It starts by developing technology that delivers the highest levels of performance from the available infrastructure – and as a consequence reducing the need to overprovision capacity.

This enables us to improve the key metrics of unit capacity and data latency while reducing metrics such as Gbit/USD and Gbit/kgCO2e. Telecoms consultancy services include:​

  • Antenna/RF development
  • Technology strategy advice for physical layer and semiconductor implementations
  • 3GPP, IEEE and non-standard physical layer implementation on various target semiconductors

Automation and cost reduction

We work closely with industry leaders to define and deliver world-leading network automation that delivers significant cost savings. Evidenced by our work on the SmartSky Networks service management platform, our innovation consultants are developing a capability in network telemetry data, analytics and AI that helps clients significantly improve network management and performance.

Such expertise allows us to improve individual and aggregate user experience. This increases revenue, improves network utilisation and reduces cost. It also makes it possible to predict network issues to reduce outages, call outs and carbon emissions.

The result is stronger customer relationships through concepts such as service assurance and intelligent O-RAN.

Digital services and experiences

Increasingly, telco leaders are looking to move into new markets and deliver new-to-the-world immersive digital experiences. We propel these innovations by helping you identify new digital concepts, develop successful cloud-based digital platforms and apply the latest in augmented reality, virtual reality and haptics. This advances new use cases in various industries.

Progress is accelerated by our experience of high-performance network design (in private network environments) and the development of wide area IoT connected products (lower power, low cost), extending digital services into broad applications.

Carbon efficiency and sustainability

The telecommunications industry is judged on its ability to deliver world-leading carbon efficiency and sustainability. We support these ambitions with expertise in high-performance network design that maximises network utilisation. It also minimises outages and operational issues.

Through our networking experience, CC can advise on the applicability of telecommunications and cloud to each use case – and how to minimise the environmental impact of client industries.

Latest insights

Our expertise

CC has a deep understanding of AI and its applications, including Bayesian inference, real-time signal processing and data analysis combined with extensive technical skills in areas such as predictive analytics, deep learning, edge AI and empathetic AI.

We are pushing the boundaries of the human-machine interface to develop edge AI use cases, generative AI models, new supervised machine learning models and types of data analytics.

Our work is unlocking new frontiers in areas such as uncrewed aerial vehicles, synthetic biology, remote monitoring systems, telecoms and beyond.

Increasingly traditional IT resources and in-house software are being migrated to the cloud, enabling data volume and velocity capacity to flex in near real-time.

Using our device development experience and human factors expertise, we develop complete cloud-hosted products and services that ensure our clients’ infrastructure investments are transformative.

To support the surge in connected devices and the Internet of Things (IoT), we develop scalable systems that are capable of ingesting, analysing, and exploiting huge quantities of data quickly and effectively.

If you want to transform your physical product business through digital, or you’re an existing service provider looking to deliver a radical experience to accelerate growth in a new market, we can help.

From platform selection to building the technology and integrating it with existing processes and systems, we know what it takes to develop successful digital platforms that span the physical and digital worlds.

We have expertise in digital security, AI, UX, and full-service development including the go-to-market strategy, launch plan and ongoing scaling and operations.

Electronics are central to almost every product we develop – they make a device smart, allow it to communicate with other systems or enable it to perform an action.

Electronic engineering has been a core skill since our inception in 1960 and we have been developing ASICs since the late 1980s.

From integrated circuits and embedded systems to power supply and analogue circuitry, our electronic designs push the boundaries of performance, cost, size and efficiency.

With expertise in radio frequency (RF) engineering and electromagnetic capability (EMC) we develop high-performing radio systems such as simultaneous cellular (3G/4G), Wi-Fi and Bluetooth operation.

Our experience covers virtually every aspect of radio and communications development, from fundamental research through to new product introduction for large volume manufacture.

We partition functionality and performance to the part of the system where it is most cost effectively delivered, such as the antenna system, the radio electronics, a custom application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) or digital signal processing (DSP) software.

We provide complete antenna simulation, design and testing in high-performance electromagnetic chambers to ensure that these considerations are part of the development process from the outset.  We have specific expertise in the interaction between electromagnetic waves and human tissue, making us uniquely able to accurately predict the impact of the human body on real-world antenna performance.

Markets and technologies evolve rapidly and unpredictably. Very few companies can afford to develop all relevant technologies, so tough choices need to be made. We help identify opportunities to ‘build, borrow or buy’ new technologies in anticipation of market requirements.

Business transformation is typically driven by a combination of internal, industry-related, and external factors, often rooted in technology. And whilst technology-based disruption is nothing new, the speed at which new offerings have built scale has been unprecedented.

The expertise we employ as technology strategy consultants has been in existence at Cambridge Consultants for decades. Because our consultants are engineers and scientists with deep technical insight, they can identify golden opportunities and recommend an innovation portfolio or technology roadmap.

We ensure that not only is the technology is understood but that the business model, market offerings and operations are all set up for success.

Our facilities

O-RAN test bed

The Open Radio Access Network (O-RAN) testbed is a complete 5G private network, from internet to user equipment.

The cloud-based network implements a disaggregated radio access network (RAN), using an O-RAN architecture, integrated with a 5G core.

Through the network, we can simulate performance of virtual or physical network technologies, providing a deep understanding of the complex interactions with O-RAN networks and helping our clients develop high performance solutions.

Anechoic test chamber

Our custom anechoic radio and antenna test chamber is a highly sophisticated 5m cube.

Inside, we carry out automated 3D measurements and visualisation of wireless device behaviour and test body-worn technology using body phantoms or real live test subjects to optimise real-word RF performance of products such as smart implants (including implanted telemetry), connected drug delivery devices and wearables.

Our anechoic test chamber is available as a standalone service for industry and academic research. Explore the facility and find out how you can access this state-of-the-art service.

AI infrastructure

CC’s comprehensive onsite compute infrastructure allows us to explore options and train and test models more rapidly to get better results.

We run petaflop-scale, containerised compute on site, with multiple NVIDIA DGX-1 deep learning supercomputers and other GPU and FPGA-accelerated servers. This links to petabyte-scale local NetApp storage, project-specific cloud and our continuous integration systems.

EMC test chamber

Our fully-shielded ETS-Lindgren anechoic test chamber is suitable for a wide range of EMC and RF testing, which is essential for new devices.

It allows us to test for unwanted radiation and susceptibility to interference at an early stage with the results fed directly into product design, rather than later on when changes will be expensive to implement.

Our experts

Deep tech

Are you curious about new technologies, and how they can lead to long-term sustainable value?

We think creatively at the intersection of business and technology, inventing solutions to redefine what you do.

Industries

You need a partner with intimate knowledge of your industry and proven experience of delivering value from deep tech breakthroughs.

Discover more about the work we do in your sector and how we can create real commercial advantage for you.

Insights

Take a look at the latest insights, ideas and perspectives from CC.

Explore a cross-section of up-to-date content on the deep tech trends shaping the future of business and society.

Careers

Are you looking for an opportunity for your abilities to be recognised, and make a real difference?

Whether you are just starting out or you’re an experienced professional, we would love to hear from you.