Tesla eyes private 5G networks

A new job posting suggests carmaker Tesla is developing a private 5G network for its vehicles and Optimus robots.

In a posting on the company's website, Tesla said it's hiring a Cellular Systems Integration Engineer to "understand current and future connectivity requirements of Tesla vehicles and Optimus for on premise use cases like in manufacturing shopfloors, outdoor areas, and R&D labs."

The job posting also hints at "Tesla's private 5G protocol stack" that is intended to provide "ultra-reliability and high data rates ... with any private cellular infrastructure vendor and deployment model globally." It also mentions technologies including eSIM, LTE, CBRS and SA 5G.

Tesla officials didn't immediately respond to questions from Light Reading about the posting. But the company's apparent interest in the topic doesn't come as a total surprise based on recent reports of Jio's interest in building a private 5G network in a Tesla plant in India. And of Tesla's recent litigation around 5G patents.

Further, electric vehicles aren't Tesla's only line of business. The company is also developing a human-shaped robot called Optimus that could be used in a variety of scenarios, including warehouse operations. Presumably such robots might be controlled with a private 5G network.

Tesla's interest in private 5G networks comes at an interesting time. Companies in the global wireless industry have been touting the potential of private wireless 5G networks for years. The prospect of such networks has encouraged a wide variety of companies to jump into the space, from wireless network operators like Verizon to equipment vendors like Ericsson to tech companies like Dell to hyperscale cloud operators like Amazon, not to mention startups like Federated Wireless and Celona.

However, the private wireless networking opportunity hasn't developed as quickly as many companies had hoped.

Nonetheless, players across the world continue to jostle for position in the sector. For example, just this week Cisco announced a new partnership with private wireless player Kajeet, while Boldyn Networks said it would work with the University of Oulu, Oulu University Hospital and Wicoar Technologies to build a private 5G network in a hospital in Europe.