News

  • TechFocus Podcast Interview with FreeFall 5G

    July 14, 2020 FreeFall5g Media, News

    TechFocus Podcast with FreeFall 5G

    Alex Rodriguez and Sergio Cardona of FreeFall 5G

    In this episode of TechFocus, hear how two leading Arizona early-stage companies, FreeFall Aerospace and Electronic Design & Development Corp, are disrupting the global 5G marketplace. Their new “FreeStar5G Antenna System” promises to accelerate 5G connectivity under newly formed venture FreeFall 5G, Inc. 
     
    Moderated by Linda Drake from Michael Beach Coaching & Consulting, this episode features FreeFall 5G’s CEO Alex Rodriguez and CTO Sergio Cardona.
     
    Listen to this interview here:
     

     

    High-tech, intellectual property, out of the box thinking right here in Arizona!

    FreeFall 5G is a new company designed to help customers reach the promise of 5G by utilizing the talent, expertise, and IP that spans ED2 Corporation and FreeFall Aerospace with financial backing from DVI Equity Investments and UA Venture Capital. 
     
    Alex Rodriguez
    “More devices are coming online and mobile networks are running out of capacity. Soon there can be a problem with connectivity because of a lack of being able to pass data to each other with speed and in a way that makes sense. That’s where the promise of the 5th generation comes to place. FreeFall 5G is helping to create the infrastructure to help make that promise real.” – Alex Rodriguez, CEO of FreeFall 5G
     
    The FreeStar5G is a distributed antenna system offering 360-degree coverage in a single unit with 3D MIMO that is about the size of a laptop. This is a very small size in comparison to anything that is used right now. The FreeStar5G has reduced the complexity and power consumption versus the planar array solutions. The Ultra-fast beam pointing is ideal for mobile 5G services or fixed dense environments. It’s a new cost-effective disruptive product and robust way to achieve the 5G promise.
     
    Sergio Cardona“Two companies with tremendous ability and skillsets with one in aerospace and one in defense are bringing ruggedness, high-performance technology, to the commercial market proving value to the equation. We are taking our product, the FreeStar5G antenna,  together to the market by combining our expertise to create the maximum value for that. Coming together to focus on one product to make a difference in the industry.” Sergio Cardona, CTO of FreeFall 5G
     

    About FreeFall 5G:

    FreeFall 5G, Inc, a 5G disruptive technology development company that provides intelligent antenna systems for the global 5G market. Its flagship product, the FreeStar5G, provides high data rate communications at virtually any frequency at a fraction of the size and cost of existing state-of-the-art solutions. FreeFall Aerospace and ED2 Corporation formed a third company, FreeFall 5G, in Spring 2020 to accelerate 5G deployment. Both organizations are bringing experienced and dedicated personnel to the FreeFall 5G team, backed up by world-class experts in antenna design and modeling, electrical engineering, and RF systems expertise. To learn more about FreeFall 5G, visit www.freefall5g.com.
     

    About TechFocus Podcast:

    In partnership with Michael Beach Consulting, TechFocus Member Spotlight Podcast highlights Arizona’s growing prominence as a world-class tech hub. Each podcast episode features innovative entrepreneurs, transformative leaders, and tech titans who are reshaping the state’s evolving tech ecosystem in existing and emerging sectors. Moderated by Linda Drake, a seasoned Leadership Coach and Business Consultant with Michael Beach Consulting.

    Broadcasted monthly, the goal of TechFocus is to have real leaders having real conversations about what’s happening in the technology sector in Arizona. Each episode is recorded, edited, produced, and released as a podcast publication, accessible by streaming or download and shared on social media.

    Hear additional TechFocus episodes here.

     
     

  • FreeFall 5G on Tipping Point Radio with Zach Yentzer

    July 6, 2020 FreeFall5g Media, News

    UAVenture Capital and DVI Equity Partners announce a spin-off of FreeFall Aerospace and ED2 to form a new 5G company: Freefall 5G.

    Learn more about FreeFall 5G during this interview with Zach Yentzer on Tipping Point Radio.
    Hear FreeFall 5G starting at 2:30 through 24:49 minutes

    On the Air

    Alex Rodriguez FreeFall 5G
    Alex Rodriguez, CEO of FreeFall 5G
    Zach Yentzer
    Zach Yentzer, Host of Tipping Point
    Julie Bonner FreeFall 5G
    Julie Bonner, Marketing Director for FreeFall 5G

    About FreeFall 5G

    FreeFall 5G, Inc, a 5G disruptive technology development company that provides intelligent antenna systems for the global 5G market. Its flagship product, the FreeStar5G, provides high data rate communications at virtually any frequency at a fraction of the size and cost of existing state-of-the-art solutions. FreeFall Aerospace and ED2 Corporation formed FreeFall 5G in Spring 2020 to accelerate 5G deployment. Both organizations are bringing experienced and dedicated personnel to the FreeFall 5G team, backed up by world-class experts in antenna design and modeling, electrical engineering, and RF systems expertise.

    About Tipping Point

    Tipping Point Radio with Zach Yentzer on AM 1030 KVOI The Voice is the only live radio broadcast and on-demand podcast in Tucson dedicated to envisioning, discussing, and debating the issues defining a thriving city.

    Tipping Point Radio with Zach Yentzer shares the stories and strategies of the people and ideas shaping Tucson’s future, covering weekly issues surrounding:

    • Technology and Innovation: Research and development of new products and services for the 4IR (4th Industrial Revolution)
    • Entrepreneurship and SME (Small-to-Midsize Business): Exploration of the backbone of our local economy and how Tucson maintains its regional competitiveness.
    • Neighborhoods and Urban Planning: Discussion of the elements of a great neighborhood including walkability, city services, safety, and Smart Growth.
    • Housing and Affordability: Consideration of the types of housing and density needed to provide housing affordability and accessibility in Tucson, and ways to mitigate gentrification and displacement.
    • Water and Sustainability: Exploration of innovative solutions for making our commercial and residential areas more sustainable, and preserving and expanding our water sources.
    • Land Use and Development: Envisioning and promoting strategic growth and development that simultaneously preserves our history and enhances the experience of the buildings, streets, and open spaces that conserve Tucson’s special character.
    • Economic Development and Branding: How do we take advantage of our local assets and opportunities to grow our economy and retain and attract people and ideas?

    Hear more Tipping Point with Zach Yentzer episodes here.

  • Capitalizing on the growth of 5G wireless networks – Arizona Daily Star

    May 19, 2020 FreeFall5g Media, News

    Tucson startups team up to capitalize on the growth of 5G wireless networks

    Written By David Wichner | May 18th, 2020

    FreeStar5G Antenna - FreeFall 5G

    Two Tucson-based technology startups backed by local venture capital have created a spinoff company to capitalize on the explosive growth of 5G wireless, the emerging ultra-fast mobile broadband standard.

     

    FreeFall Aerospace and Electronic Design and Development Corp., or ED2, have formed FreeFall 5G to combine FreeFall’s advanced antenna technology with ED2’s 5G communications capabilities.

     

    UAVenture Capital, a Tucson-based firm that invests exclusively in University of Arizona science and technology, announced an undisclosed investment in FreeFall Aerospace in 2018.

     

    DVI Equity Partners, the technology investment arm of Tucson’s Diamond Ventures, led an initial venture capital round for ED2 last year with a $2.6 million investment.

     

    FreeFall Aerospace, founded by UA astronomy professor Chris Walker and NASA veteran Doug Stetson, has demonstrated an ultra-lightweight inflatable satellite antenna, steerable balloon-borne communications, and low-cost fixed and mobile ground-based systems.

     

    ED2, led by former Raytheon engineer and tech entrepreneur Sergio Cardona, is developing new, low-power devices for 5G based on millimeter-wave technology and has already rolled out 5G signal filters and repeaters.

     

    FreeFall and ED2 have been working together to combine the technologies since 2018, said Alex Rodriguez, chief operating officer of FreeFall Aerospace and now CEO of FreeFall 5G.

     

    ED2’s use of the FreeFall Aerospace antenna concept led to a prototype unveiled at 5G Mobile World Congress in Los Angeles last fall, and that system will now be further developed for commercial demonstration this summer, the company said.

     

    The company’s FreeStar5G antenna has greater range and flexibility than any 5G antenna system currently on the market, yet it draws significantly less power and is about the size of a desktop computer, the company says.

     

    “It is clearly a disruptive antenna technology,” Rodriguez said. “We believe we will be state-of-the-art in terms of extended range — we have exceptional millimeter-wave coverage — and (range) is a huge gap in the industry right now.”

     

    UAVenture Capital founder and CEO Fletcher McCusker said in a news release he believes the FreeStar5G antenna will “revolutionize” 5G communications.

    “Based on what we all felt was a game-changing technology for 5G, it made sense to form a spinoff to operationalize the antenna,” added Bob Griffin, managing partner at DV Equity Partners.

     

    For now, FreeFall 5G is operating with shared resources and staff under a shared-services agreement that will give FreeFall 5G the technical and business support it needs from both companies, Rodriguez said.

    FreeFall Aerospace has 10 full-time employees plus several part-time and technical consultants on its staff, while ED2 has 13 employees, he said.

     

    “(It’s) amazing that two small companies, from Tucson, Arizona, can transform the way 5G communication gets rolled out and by default make us a 5G technology region,” ED2’s Cardona said.

     

    FreeFall will soon move into a larger facility with room for expansion, Rodriguez said.

     

    Read the original article here at the Arizona Daily Star.