We are talking here about 5G sensing and positioning – because it was on the cards at RCR’s Defense Communications Forum yesterday (available on-demand here, in case you missed it) during a presentation by system integrator Future Technologies about ‘gray-zone’ logistics, and also the subject of new RCR interviews today with Ericsson and NTT Data about drone defense systems and industrial robot tracking. The common thread is private 5G – even if private 5G is not mentioned by Ericsson. Either way, we have a ‘throughline’, as AI would write it.
At the forum, Future Technologies reframed 5G as something more than just a connectivity layer, suggesting it will evolve into an “intelligence sensing and comms system” with “passive radar capability” – useful in contested gray-zone and congested industrial environments, alike; both served by the firm. The line from Ericsson, a close partner, is the same: that networks can “sense the physical world using the same waveforms” they use to communicate, particularly to address “low-altitude blindness” from small drones.
The discussion with NTT Data is different, but follows the same thinking: its emphasis on SRS-based positioning in factories presents a similar shift – where radio signals double as environmental probes to support spatial awareness for indoor tracking and automation cases, and physical AI notably. The contexts differ – production sites, gray-zone logistics, battlefield defense – but the trajectory is shared. 5G/6G, and private versions in particular, is developing as a dual-use platform, where sensing is embedded into the fabric of connectivity.
The gap, as always, is maturity: ISAC is nascent, as noted, even as building blocks like SRS are already coming into play.
James Blackman
Executive Editor
RCR Wireless News
RCR Top Stories
ISAC for defense: Integrated sensing is changing 5G/6G infrastructure into an active detection grid, says Ericsson; it helps defense and aerospace firms identify low-flying drones and unmanned ariel vehicles in areas that radars cannot reach.
‘iPhone moment’? Most factory-floor ‘physical AI’ runs on lightweight edge compute, says NTT Data – but 5G sensing, via SRS, could unlock a new wave of demand for private 5G, tying edge IoT and AI into a single enterprise stack.
US tower outlook: US tower operator American Tower raised its outlook as AI workloads, cloud adoption, and mobile data growth drive infrastructure demand, with strong momentum in towers and data centers supporting continued expansion.
Chips from scratch: Verkor has introduced an agentic AI system to design a full RISC-V CPU core in just 12 hours with zero human intervention. The project demonstrates a significant leap in autonomous end-to-end hardware engineering.
UK AI chip push: The UK government is preparing an ‘AI Hardware Plan’ to strengthen domestic chip capabilities, focusing on design and innovation as it seeks to compete in a market dominated by the US and Taiwan.
Powering Sovereign AI at Scale
AI is central to telecom and national infrastructure, but must be secure, compliant and sovereign. Read this white paper to see how AI Factories enable trusted scale and new revenue.
Beyond the Headlines
Brazil AI infra bet: Infrastructure investor I Squared Capital is to acquire Elea Data Centers, targeting Brazil’s growing AI infrastructure market, where renewable energy availability and rising demand are driving large-scale data center expansion.
Fighting talk: T-Mobile US signed off another good quarter with fighting talk about acquisition strategies and accounting habits at AT&T and Verizon, and claims its 5G network and compute build-out will be the best in the business for physical AI.
Big AI summer: Verizon will follow strong quarterly growth this winter with a summer of AI, with a brand new tech stack to drive further network automation and customer (micro-) segmentation to drive costs, service, and telco change.
China squeeze: China Mobile has posted modest revenue growth and declining profit in the first quarter of 2026, as competition, weak demand, and structural challenges in computing services weigh on its transition beyond connectivity.
Unpacking 6G: Qualcomm says the case for 6G is about building a network platform that can sense the environment, support distributed AI inference and model the real world in software.
What We’re Reading
Nokia FWA sale: Inseego is to acquire Nokia’s FWA business to double its revenue and expand its wireless broadband footprint. The deal supports joint 6G and AI-focused innovation, while Nokia takes an equity stake in Inseego.
Samsung record Q1: Samsung has posted a record Q1, with revenue reaching KRW 133.9 trillion and operating profit KRW 57.2 trillion, driven by strong memory semiconductor demand and higher prices amid AI-led market growth.
Open RAN P5G: Rakuten Symphony and Celona will develop open RAN private 5G for enterprises, combining cloud-native infrastructure and 5G LAN tech to enable flexible, cost-efficient deployments supporting IoT and mission-critical applications.
Euro D2D surge: Europe’s D2D satellite market is entering early commercialization, with 22% of operators launching, trialing, or partnering on services as telcos test capabilities and prepare for integrated 5G-satellite networks – says Omdia.
New Sateliot deal: Telefónica and Sateliot are to develop satellite 5G to combine LEO satellites and terrestrial networks to extend coverage to remote areas and support critical applications for defense, IoT, and infrastructure.
Events
Virtual Program
Defense Communications Forum, April 28
Join defense leaders, technology innovators and system integrators and explore how commercial network solutions can be adapted to meet defense-grade requirements, enabling secure, resilient, AI-driven, multi-bearer networks.
Test & Measurement Forum, May 19
Join the annual Test & Measurement Forum where industry leaders, innovators, and engineers come together to tackle the most pressing test and measurement challenges in telco today. Register now
Telco AI Forum, June 16th
Telco AI Forum brings together operators, vendors, hyperscalers, and academia to explore how the industry and partnership ecosystem evolution are laying the foundations for AI-native 6G networks and unlocking ROI. Register now
CCA’s 2026 Mobility & Connectivity Show
Join industry stakeholders and innovative leaders in the communications service provider community this spring at CCA’s 2026 Mobility & Connectivity Show, April 14-16 in Louisville, KY. Register now
Industry Resources
Webinar, May 21st
Securing telecom infrastructure for the quantum era
Report
AI in testing – Developing trust, delivering results
Whitepaper
Powering sovereign AI at scale
Whitepaper
Scalable database design for 5G and beyond
Report
Networks at the frontline: How 6G, ISAC and NTNs will redefine defense technologies
Report
Test, measurement and service assurance in the AI era
Summit Access
GSMA Device Enablement Summit: How operators can fix device-network fragmentation
