US broadband services and cable television provider Cox Communications will resell the new multi-carrier neutral host CBRS solution from InfiniG, announced last week. It is the first channel partner for the brand new InfiniG service, which launched ahead of MWC Las Vegas last week amid a burst of CBRS neutral-host activity. Cox will sell the service, which offers indoor access to both AT&T and T-Mobile, alongside its standard enterprise services portfolio.
The service will be managed by the service provider’s new private networks division, Cox Private Networks, which assumed charge of Unite Private Networks in the summer. Cox advanced its majority stake in Unite Private Networks to take complete ownership at the end of June, with a view to combine it with Midwest fibre infrastructure and enterprise services company Segra (acquired in 2021) in a new standalone company.
The neutral host market is hotting up in the US, suddenly – and is a notable theme at MWC in Las Vegas this week, alongside straighter private-networks activity. InfiniG, a founding member of the OnGo Alliance, is partnering with Airspan for radio access (RAN) hardware and Google for CBRS spectrum access; its neutral host offer with AT&T and T-Mobile followed hard on the heels of an equivalent launch from Celona, running only with T-Mobile.
Cox said it is the “first provider” (channel, via InfiniG) to launch a “commercially available multi-operator core network (MOCN) neutral-host solution”. It stated: “This solution expands Cox’s private network offerings and provides mobile users access to stable, high-speed cellular service in hard-to-service areas such as buildings with reflective building materials, concrete walls, or locations underground.”
It repeated the same lines as InfiniG and Celona, from last week; that neutral-host networks in CBRS spectrum offer simpler indoor coverage than previously afforded by distributed antenna (DAS) systems. It said the indoor market has been poorly served by DAS, on account of its complexity and cost – to the point only large venues like stadiums and malls have been equipped with cellular coverage.
It stated: “[This] solves similar challenges… but at reduced cost and complexity, while also addressing many previously unserved organisations, facilities, and industries. [It] expands public cellular networks through a dedicated, customer-owned private wireless network. As a result, in-building cellular technology is no longer reserved for the largest of venues, and can now be deployed in healthcare, hospitality, warehouses, and more.”
The InfiG solution supports 911-calling – “so emergency calls in a building can be connected regardless of the caller’s mobile operator”. The company has deployed the InfiniG solution at its own ‘connected environments co-lab’ at Arizona State University – essentially as a testbed to explore how it “enhances the digital infrastructure that powers learning and working for both students and employees”.
Brett Lasher, general manager at Cox Private Networks, said: “[Indoor neutral-host technology]… is the natural next step for applying private wireless technology and is one more way we can use private wireless to solve customers’ connectivity pain points. Our solution empowers enterprises to finally take control of the quality of cellular coverage within their four walls and deliver the connectivity that employees, customers and guests require.”
Joel Lindholm, chief executive at InfiniG, said: “In-building cellular has long been seen as an expensive and unrealistic technology for many organisations. Collaborating with Cox means we can provide a service that scales in many more environments, so users are better connected. Furthermore, it’s the perfect complement to existing private network deployments.”
