INTERVIEW: Cohere Technologies CEO Ray Dolan (pictured) has long touted the company’s relationship with a large, unnamed RAN vendor for the deployment of its spectrum software, but he hailed a trial on Bell Canada’s network as a new path forward for the company.

Dolan told Mobile World Live the test with Bell Canada proved its universal spectrum multiplier (USM) software works across existing radio base stations for brownfield deployments, which expands its market opportunities.

The company previously trialled USM with Vodafone Group across a greenfield network, which yielded a 50 per cent uplift in spectral efficiency.

Following MWC24 Barcelona, Dolan explained operators and additional vendors wanted to see Cohere’s technology integrated within existing networks, which it did during the trial with Bell Canada and the unnamed vendor.

For the Bell trial, Cohere integrated its USM software with a standard server that can either sit next to a basestation at a mast site or be stored in a data center as part of the cloud. Telcos therefore have a means of introducing Cohere without having to rip out any of the network equipment they have already installed.

“A lot of operators are talking to their vendors,” he said of the results. “A lot of vendors are talking to us. It’s just been great.”

He said the benefit of using USM on established networks is it solves congestion problems by adding capacity to spectrum and assets.

“I will say that we’ve now demonstrated by ourselves that we were worth pushing through the supply chain of trusted vendors,” he said. “We now have a documented interface that allows us to meet every vendor at that interface, knowing exactly what we want to transfer one way and exactly what we’ll transfer the other way.”

Diversify
While Dolan declined to confirm whether USM will be deployed commercially this year, he said the successful test with Bell Canada is driving funding forward.

“We’ve been in discussions in fundraising, not because we’re desperate, but because we are trying to get well out ahead of our fundraising needs,” he said. “The fact is operators and partners are asking us to diversify and move into multiple vendors, into multiple trials, or multiple regions of the world.”

Dolan stated Cohere has enough capital on hand for this year and most of 2026. It is in funding talks with financial advisors, operators and OEMs.

“I’m convinced we’ll probably raise money later this year, well before we need to,” he said.

During the interview, he spoke n detail about the trial with Bell Canada and how the company is creating a digital twin of physical telecoms assets.  Click here to view.