Verizon gets On Site with private 5G networking to enterprise and public sector

In January 2021, research from IDC predicted a likely boom in private 5G networks driven by demand from mission-critical organisations and more spectrum being made available for enterprise uses. The latest firm to try to cash in on this is Verizon Business with its first commercially available, private 5G network system in the US.

Looking to ride the wave of 5G as technology and capabilities advance and evolve, Verizon On Site 5G is designed to provide customers with a scalable, customisable platform to take advantage of developments in burgeoning technologies such as Massive IoT, artificial intelligence, machine learning, augmented reality, virtual reality and real-time analytics.

Verizon On Site 5G networks are custom-designed and managed by the comms provider and are designed to allow large enterprise and public sector customers to bring 5G Ultra Wideband capabilities to indoor or outdoor facilities where high-speed, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity is crucial, regardless of whether the premises are within a public 5G Ultra Wideband coverage area.

The non-standalone private network combines 5G Ultra Wideband small cells with the LTE packet core and radios of On Site LTE, so that On Site LTE customers can upgrade to On Site 5G with ease, said Verizon. On Site 5G leverages the best of 5G Ultra Wideband and 4G LTE capabilities as different operational environments require, and maintains interconnection to an organisation’s LAN, SD-WAN and enterprise applications.

While all cellular traffic stays on-premise, On Site 5G allows authorised remote user access to enterprise applications. Controlled authorised user access and device management and the inherent privacy of on-premise networking are said to help keep the network secure.

Verizon said its dedicated On Site private networks offer customers the consistent, predictable performance, security, mobility, flexibility and capabilities of 5G to improve operational efficiency and accelerate digital transformation.

“On Site 5G opens the commercial floodgates for the promises of 5G Ultra Wideband, allowing large enterprises and public sector organisations to custom tailor a 5G experience for any premises that demand it,” said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, chief revenue officer at Verizon Business. “It’s the bespoke business service for what we do better than anyone else – build 5G networks that enable even the most advanced wireless, MEC and IoT capabilities for customers on the cutting edge.”

Verizon has previously built custom 5G solutions for co-innovation and exploratory work with Corning Incorporated, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Mcity at the University of Michigan, WeWork and others, and earlier this year began 5G deployment at Tyndall Air Force Base as part of a broader network deployment initiative with the US Air Force.

Its portfolio of networking and digital-transformation tools also includes 5G Business Internet, a fixed-wireless connectivity offering that uses the public 5G Ultra Wideband network for businesses of all sizes. The latter is now available in parts of 24 US cities, with more to be announced on a rolling basis.