The FCC Part 20-compliant SOLiD BARS brings simple, scalable cellular connectivity to the Middleprise
The vast majority of U.S. buildings are under 200,000 square feet. These Middleprise spaces, ranging from healthcare clinics to multi-dwelling units and educational campuses, need reliable, multi-carrier indoor cellular connectivity. However, they’re often too small to attract investment from mobile network operators (MNOs) for full in-building systems. With its latest product launch, enterprise connectivity leader SOLiD is targeting this large Middleprise space and bringing cost-effective connectivity to the users who need it.
SOLiD’s Doug Bierbower, vice president of marketing, and Dave Pyle, general manager of enterprise solutions, discussed the Middleprise opportunity and the company’s new SOLiD BARS product in an interview with RCR Wireless News.
Bierbower explained that Middleprise buildings are typically between 50,000 and 500,000 square feet. The primary barrier to delivering multi-carrier cellular coverage in these environments is “always about the signal source,” he said. “The cost of a signal source from the mobile network operators is very high, so the alternative would be to borrow the off-air signal from the macro network and repeat it inside the building.”
For larger venues, SOLiD’s ALLIANCE 5G Distributed Antenna System (DAS) connects carrier signal sources to a central headend, and then the signal is distributed throughout the venue via remote radio units. This full-spectrum approach isn’t economically viable in smaller Middleprise buildings, which is the market opportunity SOLiD BARS is addressing. SOLiD BARS is compliant with FCC Part 20 rules, which govern the use of consumer signal boosters that capture outdoor signals from the macro network and retransmit them indoors without interference.
Pyle said that SOLiD BARS was developed in partnership with the system integrators who work in the Middleprise. “We wanted to make sure it was accretive,” he said. “We didn’t want to come in with a ‘me too’ solution…We wanted to make sure we created something that was needed.” The goal was to give integrators “a very elegant solution.”
SOLiD BARS supports up to three carriers and three bands per carrier, using a single Ethernet cable per remote radio. The system is scalable up to 40 remote radios per headend and, because it adheres to Part 20 rules, SOLiD BARS can enable immediate service without waiting for dedicated carrier-provided signal sources. Bierbower said for buildings between 50,000 and 150,000 square feet, it’s “pretty much a sure thing that an off-air signal source will deliver enough capacity for the people inside.”
Reflecting on a recent installation at a school near SOLiD’s Plano, Texas, headquarters, Pyle said SOLiD BARS delivered “instantaneous gratification.” The deployment addressed both general communications needs and, importantly, public safety concerns by enabling in-building 911 access. It’s “going wonderfully,” Pyle said.
“We were asked by our customers to produce this product because, again, the carriers just aren’t providing a solution quickly enough to the users in these buildings,” he continued. SOLiD BARS offers this underserved market a “uniform approach to designing and installing and leveraging our partner ecosystem that’s going to, I think, really benefit everyone…The market is huge.”
