Deutsche Telekomwatch

Sensing opportunity (and risk): will ISAC drive or drain next-gen network RoI?

2026-05-25T08:00:00

dtw-tfw-orw-isac-x-marinakoytcheva-x-marlonmacklin

Source: Montage: Magnific / freepik + STL Partners + US Department of War

Analysis: Telcos are exploring how a combination of growing military spend and the emergence of new integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) capabilities could generate new revenue growth opportunities, particularly around applications such as drone detection. But will operators be able to balance demand for high-performance solutions from the armed forces with their own commercial economics?

This article includes:

  • Organisations: Cohere Technologies; Deutsche Telekom; ETSI; Indra Group; InterDigital; Linux Foundation; NATO; Orange; Orange Business; Rheinmetall; STL Partners; Telefónica; Türk Telekom; US Department of Defense; Vodafone.
  • Geographic: Europe; France; Germany; Spain; The Hague; United States.
  • People: Alain Mourad; Anton Monk; Marina Koytcheva; Marlan Macklin; Olivier Martel; Tim Höttges.
  • Themes: 3GPP; 5G; 5G Advanced; 6G; artificial intelligence; base stations; bi-static sensing; campus private networks; cloud computing; connectivity; counter-drone systems; cybersecurity; data infrastructure; defence technology; drone detection; dual-use technology; edge computing; high-altitude platforms; integrated sensing and communication; IoT; massive IoT; monostatic sensing; multi-static sensing; network APIs; network slicing; non-terrestrial networks; Open RAN; OTFS waveforms; radio access networks; RFID; satellite communications; sensing technologies; software-defined networks; spectrum; standalone core; waveforms.
  • Events: Defense Communications Forum; Mobile World Congress; NATO Summit 2025.

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