Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to Business Steps Up, a presentation of Hiali, one of the recognized voices in Long island business. We'll focus on cutting edge topics important to the Bi county region and beyond. So sit back, relax, and listen to some of Long Island's most influential business leaders here on Business Steps Up.
[00:00:19] Speaker B: Well, good afternoon and welcome to the H I ali Business Steps up series. You know, this series began actually in Covid as we were looking for a way to better connect with the business community and many of our members and really highlight what they were doing quite well to help out through Covid. And we continued it because it was so successful. And you know, today is no exception. We're with Amblotech, which is a technology company in the Long Island Innovation park in Hoppov. Many of you have heard me talk about the park and its magnitude. It is the largest in the Northeast, only second behind Silicon Valley with about 55,000 employees and an economic output of 13 billion. It's a major economic engine. So we are joined today by the CEO Fawad. I want to make sure I get this right. It's Maqbul the bull, right? I was close. Right. I was close.
[00:01:21] Speaker C: It's Scotty.
[00:01:22] Speaker B: Yeah, Scotty. And. And George Flores, who is the CEO. So welcome gentlemen. They are good friends to the Hiaoi and again, their company is in the Long Island Innovation park at Hoppage. So why don't we start with you, talk a little bit about your background. What brought you to Amplitech, you know, to found Amplitech and tell us a little bit about that.
[00:01:51] Speaker C: Well, I'm an engineer by trade and I have a master's degree in micro communications. And I really wanted to be a doctor, but that's a long story.
So I wound up being an engineer. I wanted to change the quality of life for people and started doing things in receiving technology because I always experienced the lack of signal in many places. And main communication aspect is that people want to communicate with each other. And wireless technology like radar systems, satellites, everything is all around us. So how could that make that better? That's really what my driving force was. I worked in the private industry for at least 20 years or so before I started the company.
Started the company about 20 over 22 years ago, I mean right now basically. And I decided to focus on amplifiers. Amplifiers are the things that give you more bars on all your communication devices and make you hear things clear. And there are many, many more receivers than they are transmitters. So it was natural for me to try and make that receiving side better for Everyone in every communication system. That's how I got into that. And it led to working towards better 5G systems because that involves the same kind of technologies, receiver technology, it makes the signal better, more bars, et cetera.
[00:03:18] Speaker B: Great, good. And you know, we've talked about the need for it. We'll talk about that more actually in a second, particularly as it relates to the park. But George, how about you? How'd you start? Where did you start before Ampletech?
[00:03:31] Speaker D: Well, just before Amplitec though my experience, I started right at the assembly line. My first job was at as an assembler at a contract manufacturing company. So that's where I really started to learn to and really like and love about the electronics process.
The good thing that really helped me though was that at that point in time though I had recently immigrated to the United States.
And my ultimate goal was to obviously learn the language. My native language is Spanish. So I was just watching TV in English, trying to speak English. And then my opportunity came through my production supervisor because most of the employees at that time were Spanish speaking people. So he started me using as his personal translator.
So because of doing that then I had to explain to everybody every new job that came into the company, I was the one that had to be doing the translation and show the people how to do the things. So lo and behold, after the supervisor left, the vice president of the company, Euroka just came in and told me, listen, don't Mel left. So we need a supervisor. You speak both languages now, you're really good at your job. So let's use you as a supervisor. And that's what Euronica really inspired me to. Really? Definitely. Now I need to go into college. I need to prepare myself for that. So I started enrollika from the ground up. First I got my one year business certificate. Then I went through my associates. Then I went to my bachelor's and last but not least my master's in business administration. So that really in propelled me into who I am today, starting right from the bottom. So I specifically know, you know, like how it's to be right at the assembly line. And then I thank God I was able to move all through the ranks until, you know, like my previous employment there was a comtech telecommunications. I was a director of program management. And then came in a call from a recruiter which she told me, listen, don't just give Fawal a chance, you know, like just meet with him. I'll beg you for an hour. They're a small company, but you know, like Fawa is a really Good man. And that's what it took. You know, I sat down with Fawa for like two, three hours though, you know, on that lunch time, you know, and then he, he told me about his vision, what he wanted to do, and I was hooked, you know, here I am.
[00:06:05] Speaker B: So it sounds like a match made in heaven. And what a, what a great story from the ground up, right? How you, how you really looked at your education and, and that's great. That's phenomenal. So let's talk very specifically about 5G, right? So in layman's terms, for the layman that are watching, which is most of us, right, Most of the business community explain 5G and why it's so important in a business and, or a personal setting. So I don't. Whoever wants to go first, that's up to you.
[00:06:41] Speaker C: I'll start. Georgia will back me up.
So basically, 5G right now, again, make a big difference. 5G is supposed to be a better, faster, more reliable source of Internet. For most people, it's connectivity at its best. But right now we don't have true 5G. That's what most people don't think.
We really have 4G, 4G LTE, which is what a lot of people see on their phones. But true 5G allows a higher capacity. It allows to be operational at high capacity in dense environments as well, including businesses, urban centers, all applications that require a higher capacity. And the architecture is different as well. It's not built the same way as traditional fake 5G is, or 4G. So it is a faster, reliable form of Internet, which a lot of businesses and industries will need going to the next few years or so, because there's a demand of all kinds of technology, technology that's waiting for this 5G to come along. True 5G, right.
[00:07:51] Speaker B: All right, George, you want to add to that?
[00:07:53] Speaker D: Well, Kirk, there is definitely WhatsApp and then some more, which is Intel's not just about the speed, but also the enhanced security, Right. That having a private 5G entails to the end user as well. So we can elaborate more as we go during the program.
[00:08:15] Speaker B: So how does the service that you'll be offering, how would that compare to, and what is the difference between what you're doing and potentially some other carriers?
[00:08:27] Speaker D: Well, basically though, you know, like when it comes to Amplitec Group, right, we need to compare, you know, like two different size of companies, right? So, for example, we have the Verizon of the world, the Timor of the world. Obviously, they provide not just a wi fi services, but also their own 5G in which we have had some meetings here at our facility. In here, the seeing is believing type, we have run speed tests and then we found out that a lot of the Verizon users when they run the speed test, they were barely getting maybe 30 or 40 Mbps file. When they sign into our network though, they got 800-900-Mbps instantly. Right.
So the comparison is that we obviously are not going to be able to go head to head with those type of people. However, this is how we differentiate ourselves from them. How do we differentiate ourselves from them though? Is that because of our smaller size. Right. We are able to have more of the customer interaction with new customers. We are able to learn faster on what the needs are and then we're able to pinpoint a solution to the specific customer. So we are able to customize solutions, get to them. Just to sum it up, I will say that the agility will be a good word to use agility in a way that allows us, based on our cost structure and our team, our technical team, is able to immediately contact with the customer, find out what the problem is, define a suitable solution to them, define a plan to implement that solution. We'll cost it out, we'll give it to them, and then we will implement it. When it comes to these massive giants, they have to manage billions of dollars in resources and people. So you can imagine though, the contrast right in there on how they're going to be approaching a customer versus us approaching a customer. So it will takes a massive giant month to move into, really serve the customer fast. So that's where we come in. We are able to offer customized solutions and we put the plans together, we put the proposal fast, and then we go right into business with them.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: Yeah. Which is great. And I have to say, just to the people viewing that, I had the opportunity firsthand to be one of the test cases right when I was in your office, and I absolutely could not believe it. I don't remember what the number was, but it was up around 800. Right. And I just could not believe how the speed changed and the reliability changed. So we're really excited about this. Let's talk a little bit about that as it relates to the park, the Long Island Innovation park, because we see it as an opportunity.
What do you guys see and what do you think you can do to help the park?
[00:11:34] Speaker C: So I think it should be noted that we are not basically just out there competing with the big guys. Right. I mean, what we're trying to do is create technology and build technology that's going to be solving problems for the general public. General public meaning everybody businesses, homes as well. And we're not trying to be a Verizon or an AT&T. Eventually they'll probably be our customers because our technology and our products and the hardware is very suitable and it fits right in with whatever the existing technology is and it enhances it. But our focus as in the industrial park, is to make industrial park. All of its businesses, I think 1300 businesses or so, all of them have a different type of business. We have biotech businesses, we have pharmaceutical businesses, we have healthcare businesses, we have manufacturing businesses. In all of these areas. 5G network can enhance their security and their connectivity and provide a more efficient means of operation. Automation is becoming the thing. Right. And we have basically everything that requires the connectivity all the way down to the cameras and, and, and the AI based computers that would monitor all the product production, monitor employees, monitor every aspect of business the way it's done right now. And since the park is a, is a park that has all these businesses, I think it's a perfect candidate for turning it into a smart park. And our goal is not to be a gigantic provider. We want to fill holes. We're basically talking about covering the area of the park in pieces and then allowing all of that high speed technology to be accessible by every user in the park. And that makes it a smart park. And when it becomes a smart park, you now are able to put smart vehicles in there. You can have smart operational systems. Right. They'll be very smart because every, every business will have an intelligent camera monitoring system and surveillance system and everything you can imagine that connects to IT IoT systems, so it enables tons of other applications as well as making it more efficient to operate. And what, what better place than to start where we are right now because we enjoy the, the, the talent pool. The technology that's emanating from, from, from this park.
[00:14:08] Speaker B: Yeah. And wow, what a, what a genuine coup that would be. Right. To make it the first smart park.
[00:14:14] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:14:14] Speaker B: And you know, you alluded to that was actually, you answered it. But my next question was what are, what could that grow into? What are some of the other applications? So you talked a little bit about cars. Just help me understand that in layman's terms, what could that look like? Assuming we were already in this park and people could connect, what other things could they be doing?
[00:14:38] Speaker C: Well, I mean a good thing would be, the good thing to show would be that every car that's Being driven in the industrial park or in that region can connect to their network, the 5G network that we have, and they could then be fully automated. The car will drive by itself. You won't have to touch it like you have to. Right there. Right now, everything is there. They call it enabled vehicles, but their network doesn't support it. So it won't, at some point it becomes dangerous and it won't know whether to turn left or whether to turn right or how to avoid another car and all that. But with the true 5G network, the data is coming in so fast from the network that the car can actually think and then it becomes fully automatable and it can do multiple tasks.
[00:15:22] Speaker B: Yeah. So are you, are you talking about a car that doesn't need a driver?
[00:15:28] Speaker C: Right, exactly, exactly. Yeah. We could, we could have Google demo their first vehicle here.
[00:15:36] Speaker B: That would be great. That would absolutely be great. So once you are ready, and I know you're in the midst of meeting with towns and antennas and doing things, but once you're ready with that, what type of, if any equipment do the people in the part park need to be connected? Is there any equipment on their end?
[00:15:59] Speaker C: Yeah, so, so we provide all the equipment necessary. So it starts from the tower or the pole or the building where you mount our radios on the buildings. And then you've seen smaller devices, they are called routers or, or CPEs, customer premise equipment. And we've made everything such that it's all wireless. That's the beauty of it. I mean we call it fixed wireless access. You don't need to run a cable to the building, you don't need to run cables inside your building. You basically have all our little radios that are low power, mid power and small cells. They go all around the building and outside the buildings and they'll connect the network to each business itself and then to the Internet. So everything runs off that 5G. There's no cables to run and it becomes completely wireless. And that's the, that's the future technology because that, that's what everybody wants. And then when you secure that network, that becomes unbeatable. Now you have everything operating, everybody connected. Your phones are connected, your cameras are connected, your businesses are connected, and they're all connected at very high speeds and reliability is there.
[00:17:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great. Talk about ease of use and convenience, right?
[00:17:11] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:17:12] Speaker B: So George, can you talk to us a little bit about the safety of the system?
We're in the world of cybersecurity and what does that really look like and what Does a system like this afford either a residence or a business person?
[00:17:32] Speaker D: Both.
There is a great concern on security. We have heard many times that even the, the government, just like last year, right. We had the Suffolk County, I believe was the one that was hacked. Right. And very important and large companies are also being hacked and then just held for ransom. Right. So the private 5G addresses that big security concern, right. Via the enhanced encryption of the system. Right. So the private 5G gives the AES the advanced encryption standard, right. That nominally you will not find with any regular WI FI service. Right. So in addition to the enhanced encryption for the system. Right. The security lies in that it is a SIEM based. Right. System that enables, you know, like just a specific devices to be able to hook into the main network. Right. So that's why it is a SIEM based.
So also though, the additional security is that the network slicing with the network slicing though allows the operators, right. To be able to make sure that only specific subscribers, they have the restricted access, they provide the credentials to be able to access the the system. Right. So it's a private spectrum control.
We have strong authentications to be able to go into the network. Right. So in addition to provide faster speeds, low latency. Right. Connectivity as well, security though aspects to it is pivotal right now in the use of the private 5G networks.
[00:19:27] Speaker B: Great, great. That, that actually is absolutely a question that we have gotten as we talk through many of these things because it's such a critical factor today, right. That safety and so how about Fawad, can you talk about the affordability of it? I know we talked offline about it.
[00:19:46] Speaker C: Yeah. So I mean the whole idea is that we can make systems that are competitive, right. Competitively priced than what people are paying right now. And I mean without going into details and numbers, what I can say is over the long run, I mean even that might not be long. It depends if, if there are homes or businesses that want to adopt these networks, they can basically get the return on their investment in less than a year or two. And they would get all this performance and they would get everything wireless as well. So it is very competitive and it's, it's, it's really, I guess I want to say fraction, but I don't know. I don't know what everybody's paying for their bill, but it is high and nobody's happy, right? Right. I know that nobody's happy and I know that, that they'll be happier having a solution that we can provide.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:20:37] Speaker C: And the efficiency that they gain is going to give them enormous comfort.
[00:20:41] Speaker B: Yeah. And you know, talk about comfort just for a second. Just a personal piece to that is there's a, there's a stretch on my way home that is a dead zone. Right. And you know, the bigger challenge with that is I happen to have older parents, I mean 89 and 90 year old parents. So that when you have to get in touch with people or if there's an emergency or you have to reach out to your kids, it really is quite uncomfortable. It's quite uncomfortable to realize that I might get stuck in traffic here or So, I mean, it's a, it's a, it's a comfort on a lot of different levels, I think. Absolutely.
So we're, we're excited that you're going to be rolling this out soon. We really, really are. You were going to say. I, I didn't mean to interrupt. Go ahead.
[00:21:27] Speaker C: No, no, I'm sorry. I was just going to say that loss of connectivity today is very, very important for everyone. I mean, not only kids, because you see them always involved in the phones, but when you lose your signal, like you just said, you lose your connectivity to the rest of the world. We've become so used to it, we become so attached that we're kind of like floundering like a fish without out of water when you don't have it.
[00:21:51] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:21:52] Speaker C: I think enhancing that connectivity really reaches everybody's quality of life. That's really what our passion is, to get to everybody's quality of life improvement.
[00:22:00] Speaker B: You know, particularly because I know that many households don't even have landlines anymore. Right, right. They rely on their cell phones and all their technology. So, so my, my last question has to do with technology changes at such a fast pace. Where do you see this in the Future? Whether it's 5G. And I know that you do many other things in the company, but where do you see this heading?
[00:22:29] Speaker C: Well, I think personally our belief, our vision is that everything has to turn into a true 5G. Because in the past, every 10 years we've had a G revolution. Right. And you're seeing the improvements come through. So it's headed towards everyone having a true 5G connection. And that's, that's why we're also working on the commercial side of it. Not just private 5G. Yeah, private 5G fills the holes and gets you to the last mile. All wireless, which, which actually we have equipment that focuses 5G even 8 to 10 miles away where there's a dead zone. Line of sight. Positioning it's called. We have that solution available. But I believe that our products are enhanced architecture such that we'll wind up being adopted by even the larger carriers. And everyone will eventually have it. They all want it. And the demands of the current technology that are waiting to get these things done, like Metaverse and, and robotics advanced from telerobotics, telemedicine and as we said, fully automated vehicles, all depend on this technology. And those are not going to be ushered in until this technology is in place. So that's where I see the future. It's going to grow tremendously. George, you want to add to that?
[00:23:45] Speaker D: No, definitely. We are very excited about having the technology, right. We are US based designers and manufacturers as well. So we can really wait to have the HAPA Industrial park becoming the first industrial park, right, that is going to be with full private 5G service provided by the Amplitec Group. And most of the opportunities that we want to capitalize on though is that this is a part just like Pawal mentioned, right, with over 1,300 companies, but also carries about 55,000 people working for those 1300 companies, right? So as soon as we get our FCC certification, right, those 1300 companies immediately become targets for us to be able to approach them with the technology. And we have the demonstration site here in the HAPA industrial area at our headquarters. Right? But looking beyond that, right, is that those 1300 companies had 55,000 people. Out of those 55,000 people, maybe like about 20,000 become users because not everybody sits in front of a computer. But let's say that only 20,000 and 55,000 users are going to be sitting at their computer. They're going to be experiencing firsthand of the reliability of the service, the reliability of the signal and the speeds that they're going to be getting, right? So what's going to happen? Who is the owner or the network or provider or the private subgroup to the company, Amplitech. So what means when we start reaching out to those residential areas, right, these 20,000 people are going to, wow, that's the same company that serves my company, right? So we're going to be targeting those people too and offering them, you know, like a lower, you know, like a cost service. And then of course, you know, that is going to really help in the adoption of using Amplitec for that. Pawal also touch base on the IoT devices, right. On the Internet of things right now though, I do believe that there is a company here in Hapac that already have smart lawnmowers, right? So now it's just A practical use for having the constant signal, like a secure signal. Because you are like you just mentioned, you have a senior parents, right?
Maybe they want to be using these smart lawnmowers, right? So the lawnmower is doing its job outside and if they don't get a good signal, boom, it stops the process. Right? But with the 5G is going to be constant signal. So that means that you're going to be able to start and you're going to be able to end without any hiccups as well. So the opportunities are endless. Now when you look at this first industrial park, right when you look at the nation, US has about 380 industrial parks that are very size up, right? So that's going to be just for us is going to be rinse and repeat worldwide. There's like over 200,000 industrial parks are worldwide as well. And we do have certifications also to be able to operate global wide. So I'm telling you the total addressable market right for this 5G business is in the trillions of dollars, right? So the opportunities are endless. We are right at the right time, in the right place and we are so excited to make the Hapa industrial park the first smart park because that's going to be our footprint of rinse and repeat seeing, believing type of experience to our future customers.
[00:27:25] Speaker B: Yeah, exciting times. I agree. Absolutely. And for those of you watching, I do want to let you know that ample tech not only has always been a valued partner, but particularly as the HIALI trade show and conference on May 29th. So I encourage all of you to come down and AMPL Tech will be right in that front row. I believe that you can test out your phone. I'm sure that you'll have testing capabilities and really find out more about how important this technology is, what it means to you. I think for both of you, and I said this to you personally, you have such a large opportunity with all the development going on on Long island, right, as well as this park to really just help us bring us past the 21st century. So we're really excited to partner with you. I thank you both for being on the show.
How and how can people who might be interested now and want to reach out to you, how can they do that? What's the easiest way to do that?
[00:28:28] Speaker D: The easiest way is definitely to Visit our website, www. Amplitech group.com and specific to our 5G is a www. Amplitech5g.com and also they also they could contact the HIA. I'm sure that you guys will be able to coordinate and, and do the introductions and we'll gladly follow up with them.
[00:28:53] Speaker B: Absolutely. And give us one more time that that website. George, you gave two websites.
[00:28:58] Speaker D: Yeah. Www. Amplitechgroup.com or specific to 5G. Www. Amplitech5G.com okay, great, great.
[00:29:10] Speaker B: And we encourage you all to log in and as George said, we certainly can get you their contact information as well. Some final thoughts, Anything that you haven't added that you want to add?
[00:29:24] Speaker C: Bob covered everything. We are just excited that HIA is a very important partner for us. I mean, we're talking about connectivity wirelessly, but connectivity face to face going through the HIA and all their esteemed members and all their experience that really helps us to move forward. And I think it's a mutual partnership with the JA and every business has that chance.
[00:29:51] Speaker B: We agree. We agree wholeheartedly. So thank you again, gentlemen for joining us, everyone watching.
Have a great weekend and again reach out to them for more information. Thank you for joining us.
[00:30:05] Speaker C: Thank you.
[00:30:07] Speaker A: Business Steps up is a production of Hiali, one of the recognized voices for business on Long island and a powerful voice and economic engine for real regional development. Check back for more interesting thought provoking episodes with some of Long Island's most influential business leaders. For more information, call us at 631-543-5355 or log on to hia-li.org.
