Samsung, InterDigital, American Tower, H3C join MulteFire Alliance
The MulteFire Alliance, which released its 1.0 specification earlier this year, is focusing efforts on its 1.1 specification to speak directly to how the LTE technology, which is deployed in unlicensed or shared spectrum, can be leveraged to support private industrial and enterprise networks to enable new internet of things use cases.
This week the industry trade group added four new members: Samsung Electronics America, InterDigital, neutral host provider American Tower and H3C, which a major enterprise ICT player in China.
According to Samsung, the focus is on enabling “small cells for deployment in private networks and by telecom operators.” Samsung Wireless Enterprise Business VP/GM Imran Akbar said, “Enterprises can provide employees and customers with telco-grade mobile connectivity within their facility through the use of private LTE networks built with MulteFire. We are committed to contributing to industry ecosystems that are small cell-centric as an important part of our strategy.”
In an Aug. 7 blog post, MulteFire Alliance Chairman President Mazen Chmaytelli, also senior director of business development for Qualcomm, addressed how MulteFire is well-positioned to advance the industrial internet of things.
“The current state of machinery and networks is struggling to keep up with the deployment, integration and operational demands in industries like shipping ports, warehouses, hospitals, mines, and airports. If these challenges are not overcome, future automation and smart device manufacturing will undoubtedly falter. As large enterprises evaluate connectivity options for their IoT deployments, it’s important to keep mobility and security in mind. Private LTE networks such as MulteFire fulfill both these needs, while operating solely in unlicensed or shared spectrum. This is an ideal network solution for industries concerned with the scope and scale of their sensor-based, IoT devices. MulteFire simplifies private LTE deployments by offering spectrum sharing and coexistence, making it a prominent player in IoT network infrastructure.”
