Private 5G networking has been discussed a lot over the last year. Engineers and installers are getting trained on design, installation, and support. Though it’s not exactly a new topic, it is still fairly exotic. It’s like we’re all kind of waiting for Cbrs to take some big, meaningful step forward that signals “OK, it’s really finally here. Really, like for real.” With Celona’s latest news, that big step has arguably just been taken.

Back in February of this year, I pondered on the past and short future of CBRS in this blog. I’ve gotten to know Celona (the private mobile network company) up close and personal at Mobility Field Day events last year and in 2020 and through a number of private briefings. From where I sit, the entire CBRS and Celona thing has been kind of a slow simmer- waiting for things to break open and get real.

We’re there now.

Platform, Products

Celona is ready to rock and roll the CBRS-hungry enterprise crowd with all the makings of a build-it-yourself 5G networking solution. The details are here, but the short version goes like this- product components of Celona’s integrated solution architecture include:

Celona RAN: Indoor and outdoor CBRS LTE access points built for Enterprise environments. They provide up to 25K indoor sqft and 1M outdoor sqft of coverage. Radio functions are fully automated via Celona software with their power level and frequency channel assignments in the CBRS spectrum, no manual configurations required.

Celona Edge: Private LTE/5G core Enterprise appliance that’s designed to integrate with any existing network environment. Deployable on-premises for strict SLA enforcement for local applications, within private / public / edge clouds for service scalability, or both.

Celona Orchestrator: The AIOps platform that enables remote installation of Celona’s access points and Edge software, across multiple enterprise sites. Orchestrator provisions Celona SIM cards against required device level access control policies within the enterprise network. Providing more than monitoring of infrastructure components, Orchestrator also keeps track of application and device KPIs for Celona MicroSlicing (think QoS on steroids, but there’s more to it than just that).

Everything you need to build your own private 5G environment.

Aruba Networks Partnership

Celona has also formed a partnership with Aruba networks, who will sell Celona gear where a given customer is looking for not just Wi-Fi but also private mobile networking. Given Aruba’s lofty position in the WLAN space, this is a good thing for Celona as they set out to conquer this new market.

A Fat Wad of Series B Funding Never Hurts

Not that further validation that Celona is doing things right is needed, but one could argue that the cash the company has just secured is another indicator that industry is taking both Celona and their new tech solution seriously.

There are some decent folks at Celona that I’ve known in different roles at other companies, and it’s exciting to see them move their collective vision forward. I’m looking forward to seeing how this unfolds for Celona, the fledging CBRS industry, and for the customers about to go down this road.

See the new Celona Platform.