Australian operator Telstra will be among the first to test the company's OTFS technology that it says will help them add capacity for a 5G future.

Sarah Thomas, Director, Women in Comms

March 24, 2015

2 Min Read
Startup Cohere Raises $35M for 5G Modulation

Mobile startup Cohere Technologies has raised $35 million in funding in a Series C round led by Australian operator Telstra. Cohere will use the funds to introduce its patented new modulation technology.

Cohere Technologies specializes in modulation technologies that it says can unlock wireless network capacity. It will use the fresh cash to bring its new modulation scheme, called Orthogonal Time Frequency and Space (OTFS), to market as a way to help operators deal with the capacity crunch.

Telstra Corp. Ltd. (ASX: TLS; NZK: TLS), which led the round, will be among the first to benefit from the new backhaul technology. The carrier said in a release that it would begin trials to test the OTFS capability in its network in the coming months.

"We already have strong backhaul and access networks and anticipate that by working with Cohere we can improve this further as we move into a highly connected future and a 5G world," Mike Wright, Telstra Group managing director networks, said in the release.

For more on 5G, visit the dedicated 5G section here on Light Reading, and register to attend the upcoming "Building America's 5G Ecosystem" event in NYC.

Cohere -- which is not to be confused with the cable access startup Cohere Networks, which later changed its name to Gainspeed -- is positioning its patented OTFS modulation as integral to the future of 5G, which will necessitate more complex support from the cell sites to the backbone network. The company says it has applications for wireless backhaul and fixed wireless access both indoors and outdoors. (See 5G Use Cases, Pre-Standards Groups Proliferate and Fastback & Sub10 Merge for Millimeter Future .)

The Series C funding also includes existing New Enterprise Associates (NEA) , Lightspeed Venture Partners , and new investors Macquarie Capital and AME Cloud Ventures.

— Sarah Thomas, Circle me on Google+ Follow me on TwitterVisit my LinkedIn profile, Editorial Operations Director, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Sarah Thomas

Director, Women in Comms

Sarah Thomas's love affair with communications began in 2003 when she bought her first cellphone, a pink RAZR, which she duly "bedazzled" with the help of superglue and her dad.

She joined the editorial staff at Light Reading in 2010 and has been covering mobile technologies ever since. Sarah got her start covering telecom in 2007 at Telephony, later Connected Planet, may it rest in peace. Her non-telecom work experience includes a brief foray into public relations at Fleishman-Hillard (her cussin' upset the clients) and a hodge-podge of internships, including spells at Ingram's (Kansas City's business magazine), American Spa magazine (where she was Chief Hot-Tub Correspondent), and the tweens' quiz bible, QuizFest, in NYC.

As Editorial Operations Director, a role she took on in January 2015, Sarah is responsible for the day-to-day management of the non-news content elements on Light Reading.

Sarah received her Bachelor's in Journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She lives in Chicago with her 3DTV, her iPad and a drawer full of smartphone cords.

Away from the world of telecom journalism, Sarah likes to dabble in monster truck racing, becoming part of Team Bigfoot in 2009.

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