JET Connectivity: case study

JET Connectivity’s team of engineers can quickly transform sites to a private 5G hotspot of connectivity by utilising its own 5G RAN equipment which has been designed in the UK and built specifically for providing connectivity to offshore and ultra remote locations. The company’s specific expertise lies in the provision of robust and reliable 5G networks as a service in hard-to-reach areas on land and at sea. JET Connectivity can also host live data streams on its platforms direct to client databases from the ocean, rivers, or remote land sites and ensure that client data is securely transferred and presented through its visualisation platform. 

Engagement with Digital Catapult 

JET was a principal participant on the SONIC Labs Technology Access Programme.  SONIC Labs, run by Digital Catapult in partnership with Ofcom, is designed to accelerate innovation in the UK telecoms sector by enabling the testing and development of open and interoperable network solutions, with a focus on Open RAN (Radio Access Networks). It supports the UK government’s strategy to diversify the telecoms supply chain and reduce reliance on a small number of vendors.  

Through a collaborative, vendor-neutral testbed, SONIC Labs allows companies—especially newer or smaller players—to trial and validate their technologies in real-world conditions. This helps ensure that disaggregated network components from different suppliers can work together effectively, fostering greater competition, resilience, and innovation within the UK’s telecoms infrastructure. 

The programme has worked with a breadth of vendors and MNOs, academia and government in the UK and around the globe, building relationships and raising awareness of Open RAN across the telecoms sector and beyond.  

JET Connectivity took part in the Technology Access Programme from June 2024 to January 2025, developing solutions that address two Open RAN energy efficiency themes: RIC enabled sleep modes and Optimising CU/DU Power utilisation of server CPU cores. During the programme, participants explored innovative solutions and optimised their products’ energy consumption using standardised testing methodologies, with access to an energy consumption monitoring test platform provided through SONIC Labs. 

Impact and success 

The impact of SONIC Labs upon JET was significant, with the team benefiting from the programme’s stakeholder engagement and the ability to test equipment as part of a multi-vendor ecosystem which accelerated market traction significantly. As a direct result of participation in the Technology Access Programme, JET’s deployment level has risen to a TRL level 8-9, enabling commercial deployment in multiple private enterprises.