The news: Betacom, a longtime telecommunications company, raised $15 million as it launches a fully-managed private wireless service called Betacom 5G-as-a-service.
Betacom background: The company originally started in 1991 and grew into a $100 million wireless infrastructure business. It partnered with wireless carriers and constructed cell towers, deployed DAS and small cells solutions for convention centers and stadiums, and set up electric vehicle charging stations.
5G as a service: Betacom is using the fresh investment to roll out its new 5G networking service that it designs, deploys, and then manages via Microsoft Azure. The idea is to let enterprise customers own their network and control data. Use cases include an airport that wants to put check-in kiosks, cargo handling, and more on a private 5G network.
“We can do the same for robotics in a factory, logistics automation in a warehouse, POS applications in retail, patient monitoring in healthcare — there are dozens of use cases where mission critical applications can benefit from a managed private wireless service,” said Betacom CEO Johan Bjorklund. “Our goal is that our customer doesn’t have to hire a single person to implement and manage their private wireless network.”
Betacom makes money off the service via a monthly recurring subscription-based business model.
Florida to Seattle: Betacom recently relocated its HQ from Florida to Bellevue, Wash., nearby T-Mobile’s headquarters. About 60 of the company’s 300-person workforce is based in the Seattle region, where it is opening a new operations center that manages the private 5G networks.
Investors: The company’s backers include former T-Mobile CFO Braxton Cater and other investors from the Seattle and Bay Area regions.
