AmpliTech Achieves Major Milestone in 5G Innovation: First and only U.S. Company to Validate High-Capacity 64T64R CAT-B Massive MIMO Radios in Global Open RAN Testing with G-REIGN (HTC) And Digital Catapult SONIC Labs
HAUPPAUGE, N.Y., Dec. 08, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- AmpliTech Group, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPG) ("AmpliTech" or the "Company") today announced a breakthrough achievement in the 5G telecommunications market. The Company successfully completed the initial phase of rigorous testing of its advanced 64T64R CAT-B Massive MIMO O-RU during the O-RAN Global PlugFest Fall 2025. This achievement makes AmpliTech the first and only U.S. company to bring a commercial-grade 64T64R radio into formal O-RAN lab testing, underscoring its leadership role in driving the next era of high-capacity, open, and disaggregated 5G networks.
Strategic Importance of AmpliTech's 64T64R CAT-B Massive MIMO Radio
AmpliTech Group's ORAN 5G 64T64R (Highest radio network configuration in the 5G ecosystem), is the core performance engine of ORAN 5G networks, enabling high spectral efficiency, multi-layer beamforming, dense urban capacity scaling providing greater coverage at lower power per bit in support for large numbers of concurrent users.
While small-cell Open RAN radios (4T4R, 8T8R, 32T32R) are progressing, 64T64R CAT-B is the defining benchmark that determines whether Open RAN can truly replace traditional, closed RAN in wide-area commercial deployments.
Despite widespread claims of "Open Fronthaul compliance," very few vendors worldwide have attempted or demonstrated real interoperability of a commercial-grade 64T64R O-RU with a third-party DU/CU in an independent test environment. AmpliTech addresses these challenges directly by entering its Massive MIMO platform into this formal PlugFest integration.
The technical challenges involve:
- Strict timing requirements across eCPRI
- PHY alignment and beamforming synchronization
- Calibration across 64 independent transmit and receive chains
- Real-time Layer 1 performance validation
- Stability under load, multi-carrier, and multi-layer operation
PlugFest Testing Activities and AmpliTech's Role
The Fall 2025 PlugFest included two coordinated laboratories, Digital Catapult (London) and i14y Lab (Berlin), operating identical hardware, software versions, configurations, and test conditions. This arrangement enabled consistent and repeatable testing, a key requirement for Open RAN adoption. AmpliTech's 64T64R CAT-B O-RU participated in the Massive MIMO Beam Detection Test Scenario, conducted with G-REIGN (HTC) which provided their DU/CU stack and the PlugFest's Test Host Digital Catapult SONIC Labs.
Next phase of the PlugFest will take place in Spring of 2026 in which the event participants will test end-to-end MIMO and Massive MIMO gNB functionality, verify beam detection, validate multi-vendor PHY and eCPRI integration, and prepare the system for broader commercial-grade interoperability.
Transformative outcomes for the global Open RAN industry being enabled by plugfests interoperability sessions:
1. Breaking the Proprietary RAN Lock-In
Operators currently rely on a small group of closed, traditional vendors for Massive MIMO.
A fully interoperable 64T64R Open RAN solution from a U.S. supplier disrupts this dynamic.
2. Enabling Open RAN in High-Capacity Urban Markets
Most Open RAN deployments today are rural or low-density.
Massive MIMO unlocks the ability to deploy Open RAN in:
Large metropolitan areas, stadiums and event venues, Industrial zones and Transportation hubs
3. Lowering Costs and Increasing Vendor Diversity as Interoperable Massive MIMO allows operators to:
Source DU/CU and O-RU from different vendors
Reduce total cost of ownership by avoiding single-vendor dependency
Adopt faster innovation cycles driven by software
4. Enabling Full Multi-Vendor Testing for Tier-1 Operators
Operators will only issue large-scale Open RAN RFPs once Massive MIMO is validated in multi-vendor scenarios. AmpliTech's progress makes it possible for carriers to begin those commercial evaluations.
5. Strengthening U.S. 5G Competitiveness
AmpliTech's platform supports domestic supply chain strategy and positions the U.S. as a technology contributor in open, standards-based RAN architectures.
"Completing this initial phase of PlugFest is a major milestone for AmpliTech and for the Open RAN movement," said Fawad Maqbool, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Technology Officer of AmpliTech Group. "For the first time, a U.S. company has brought a commercial-grade 64T64R CAT-B Massive MIMO radio into formal interoperability testing across multiple independent O-RAN labs. Demonstrating stable beam detection and Massive MIMO performance with G-REIGN's DU/CU stack in such a demanding, multi-vendor environment is a powerful validation of our architecture."
"This PlugFest is more than a lab exercise, it's where Tier-1 operators can see that high-capacity Open RAN is real," Maqbool continued. "As we move into the next phases of testing, including full end-to-end gNB validation, we are laying the groundwork for large-scale, multi-vendor deployments in dense urban markets, stadiums, transportation hubs and industrial campuses around the world."
"Our mission is to give operators a viable, cost-effective alternative to proprietary RAN while strengthening the U.S. position in the global 5G supply chain," Maqbool added. "By working with innovative partners such as Digital Catapult's SONIC Labs and G-REIGN, we are accelerating the transition to open, interoperable Massive MIMO networks that deliver better performance, lower total cost of ownership, and faster innovation for our customers."
About AmpliTech Group
AmpliTech Group, Inc., comprising five divisions, AmpliTech Inc., Specialty Microwave, Spectrum Semiconductors Materials, AmpliTech Group Microwave Design Center, and AmpliTech Group True G Speed Services, is a leading designer, developer, manufacturer, and distributor of cutting-edge radio frequency (RF) microwave components and 5G network solutions. Serving global markets including satellite communications, telecommunications (5G & IoT), space exploration, defense, and quantum computing, AmpliTech Group is committed to advancing technology and innovation. For more information, please visit www.amplitechgroup.com or amplitech5G.com.
About G REIGNS (HTC)
G REIGNS, a subsidiary of HTC Group, is a 5G networking company that designs and delivers private 5G and open RAN solutions for enterprise and mission-critical applications. Its REIGN CORE "5G network-in-a-box" platforms provide portable, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity optimized for XR, industrial, and defense use cases, and are built to comply with 3GPP and O-RAN specifications. Working with a global ecosystem of core, server, and radio partners, G REIGNS helps organizations accelerate secure 5G-enabled digital transformation.
About Digital Catapult's SONIC Labs
SONIC (SmartRAN Open Network Interoperability Centre) Labs is an Open RAN innovation program and testbed run by Digital Catapult in collaboration with Ofcom, funded by the UK Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) as part of the UK's 5G diversification strategy. It provides a commercially neutral, multi-vendor environment with state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor facilities in London for testing, integrating and validating disaggregated 5G Open RAN solutions. By supporting interoperability, conformance, badging and certification, SONIC Labs helps new solution providers enter the UK telecoms supply chain and accelerates the deployment of open, energy-efficient mobile networks.
Safe Harbor Statement
This release contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements. These statements appear in several places in this release and include all statements that are not statements of historical fact regarding the intent, belief or current expectations of the Company, its directors or its officers with respect to, among other things, that participation in these events will lead to further production orders, financing, growth and profitability. The words "may" "would" "will" "expect" "estimate" "anticipate" "believe" "intend" for 5G orders and similar expressions and variations thereof are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control, and that actual results may differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements because of various factors. Other risks are identified and described in more detail in the "Risk Factors" section of the Company's filings with the SEC, which are available on our website and with the SEC at sec.gov. We undertake no obligation to update, and we do not have a policy of updating or revising these forward-looking statements, except as required by applicable law.
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