ARLINGTON, Va. and SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif., May 25, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Federated Wireless, Inc., a leader in shared spectrum and private wireless, and California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) , today announced the expansion of Cal Poly’s private wireless network as well as new neutral host capability enabling the private wireless network to support T-Mobile customers.
Cal Poly’s 4G and 5G converged private wireless technology operating in the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band, combined with neutral host capability and T-Mobile service, will not only improve connectivity and safety of the campus community, but will also open new opportunities for academic innovation with global impact in critical sectors such as construction, agriculture and energy.
The first deployments of this CBRS neutral host solution at Cal Poly will be outdoors in remote hiking areas as well as inside the new William and Linda Frost Research and Innovation Center. Just as three colleges – the College of Science and Mathematics, the College of Agricultural, Food and Environmental Sciences, and the College of Liberal Arts – meet at the Frost Center to collaborate in a shared space, the revolutionary private wireless network is a convergence of technologies working together to support advanced wireless capabilities and research projects.
The solution is implemented with Federated Wireless’ Neutral Host 2.0™, which uses a communications hub that leverages AWS Snowball Edge and AWS Snowcone services to support a multi-use private wireless network. The multi-use network simultaneously supports private connectivity services provided by the university and connectivity for T-Mobile subscribers. The public-private converged network enables a wide range of advanced wireless use cases, including:
Improved campus connectivity and security – T-Mobile service can be accessed using 4G Neutral Host over CBRS to improve the coverage experience in places where it is difficult for the cellular signal to reach, including including indoor areas like the Frost Building and outdoor areas when hiking remote trails, ensuring students have mobile connectivity and can call 911 if they encounter danger. Unlimited High-Speed Streaming – For unlimited use of data-intensive apps, students can easily self-provision their mobile devices with an integrated Subscriber Identity Module (eSIM) to securely stream class videos and other content on a mobile device via the private wireless network. 5G Innovation – With high-speed, ultra-low latency 5G connectivity over Cal Poly’s private wireless network, advanced research can be supported for cases next generation innovative use cases such as 3D image capture and augmented reality to manage the progress of site construction projects.
“At T-Mobile, we want to ensure that all of our customers, whether business or consumer, have the best experience possible,” said Mark McDiarmid, SVP, Technology Innovation and Industry Partnerships at T-Mobile. “To help Cal Poly improve coverage, we were able to use our partner Federated Wireless’ neutral host capability to quickly overlay T-Mobile service onto Cal Poly’s existing private wireless network, providing our subscribers with a optimal and revolutionary network on campus. .”
Unlike older neutral host technologies such as Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS) that require different configurations for each Mobile Network Operator (MNO), Federated Wireless Neutral Host 2.0™ uses an open, shared solution approach. It offers a private wireless network built using components from an open ecosystem of software and equipment vendors to leverage shared CBRS spectrum and achieve a radio network that can be shared by multiple public MNOs.
“Many buildings, such as those constructed of metal or concrete, or those that are LEED certified, use building materials that can block cellular signal inside the building. The signal can also be blocked by geographic landscapes, which impacts coverage and creates dead zones,” said Sameer Vuyyuru, director and head of global telecommunications business development at AWS. “The Federated Wireless Neutral Host 2.0 solution runs with the private network on AWS Edge Compute, while their CBRS Spectrum Access System runs on AWS, providing an innovative, versatile, scalable, and low-investment approach for owners of buildings, campuses and facilities. work with wireless service providers to improve coverage.
The resulting solution provides a cost-effective and versatile 4G and 5G network with neutral host capability, providing institutions and enterprises with a scalable model to address multiple complex business challenges with an integrated public-private network.
“This CBRS converged private wireless network with neutral host capability demonstrates the wireless network of the future and the power that a shared spectrum and open ecosystem model brings to higher education and private enterprise” , said Iyad Tarazi, CEO of Federated Wireless. “This is an important step in the interoperability of public and private networks.”
“The world of wireless communications is on the verge of exciting and beneficial advancements, and the innovative capabilities around private 5G, Wi-Fi 6E and commercial 4G/5G are vast,” said Bill Britton, vice -President of IT Services and CIO of Cal Poly. . “Through our partnership with experts in the 5G space, the Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab will answer questions about reducing wireless hotspots, providing wireless coverage in hard-to-reach areas, securing transactions on a private network, designing and operating digital twins. , and improving remote search and rescue as some of the examples to explore. »
The new interoperability and private 5G capabilities will be commemorated with the grand opening of the Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab on May 25, 2023 at the Justin and J. Lohr Center for Wine and Viticulture at Cal Poly.
About Cal Poly
Cal Poly is a nationally ranked public university in San Luis Obispo, California known for its Learn by Doing philosophy. Each year, approximately 22,000 top Cal Poly students put their knowledge into practice, learning outside the classroom as they prepare for careers in fields such as engineering, agriculture, science, business, humanities and the built environment. Cal Poly’s hands-on approach, small class sizes, and close student-faculty mentorships enable Ready Day One graduates to make an impact in their communities, California, and the world. Visit: www.calpoly.edu.
About Federated Wireless
Founded in 2012, Federated Wireless is a leading innovator of private wireless and shared spectrum services. The company’s partner ecosystem includes more than 100 solution and edge partners, all dedicated to collaborating in the advanced development and deployment of shared spectrum services and private wireless services. Federated Wireless’ customer base includes organizations spanning agriculture, education, energy, events, government, healthcare, manufacturing and logistics, real estate, retail and telecommunications. Transformative use cases range from Industry 4.0, smart agriculture, campus automation, smart cities, autonomous robotics and telehealth to network densification and mobile offloading. For more information, visit: federatedwireless.com, LinkedIn, Twitter or our blog.
