Cradlepoint Launches Private 5G Cellular Network Service

February 1, 2023 at 1:25 PM EST

The wireless specialist’s new NetCloud Private Networks was created and developed in collaboration with a group of Cradlepoint partners to help the company deliver private networking services and drive enterprise adoption of private 5G and cellular networking, said executives. told CRN.

According to Cradlepoint’s channel executives, Cradlepoint’s latest release, NetCloud Private Networks, exists only thanks to an elite group of channel partners who have helped wireless specialists develop private networking services.

Announced in January, NetCloud Private Networks is a fully packaged private cellular network offering that leverages existing network infrastructure investments to overcome barriers to widespread enterprise adoption of cellular technologies such as 5G. Simplify the complexities of owning a private cellular network.

Cradlepoint launched a Private Cellular Networking (PCN) User Group in March 2022 to allow partners to be proactively involved in the conception and development process. Cradlepoint’s vice president of global distribution and partner programs, Lisa Wight, said her close group of 14 partners had a first-hand look at the product, discussed what features they wanted, and provided feedback. He said he was able to provide

As a result, it targets lean enterprise IT environments that need to supplement private networks or even replace Wi-Fi where networks are not sufficiently secure for certain applications such as: The resulting product, NetCloud Private Networks, was born. People in healthcare, education, or smart city environments. Steve Benvenuto, Cradlepoint’s vice president of partner sales for the Americas, says NetCloud Private Networks is packaged for easy deployment, allowing partners and his customers to deploy products from a multitude of vendors on their own. No need to combine.

“The solution itself is simple, but the service wraparound for this is important. From evaluating all the networks, to everything that connects to them, to implementation, to financial analysis. [and] Managed services is a great service opportunity for partners,” he said.

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Cradlepoint partner Industrial Networking Solutions (INS), based in Richardson, Texas, is in the business of deploying private 4G and 5G networks for IoT environments and industrial applications such as refineries, warehouses and ports. . INS CEO Richard Rogers says Private His Cellular is a “perfect fit” for the solution provider.

“We have a practice with cellular edge devices like the ones Cradlepoint has historically sold, and have been putting infrastructure in this type of environment for 25 years, with copper wires, fiber optic cables and Wi-Fi everywhere. Private cellular is a very viable option and we have had a lot of success marketing and implementing it.

INS is a member of Cradlepoint’s PCN User Group and has taken the opportunity to evaluate and provide feedback on the first version of NetCloud Private Networks, Rogers said. “You can also see the upcoming Lord of His Maps, which is based on a lot of feedback from people in our user group,” he added.

According to Cradlepoint’s Wight, information collected from the PCN User Group will also be provided to the NetCloud Private Networks Partner Specialization. INS has already acquired new specialties.

“[Partners] Access exclusive curriculum and hands-on labs. There are also assumptions such as “Are you able to design and plan your network architecture?” What about installing cellular access points? Are they CPI certified? That way, we can make sure that our customers get what they actually need,” says Wight.

14 partners participating in the User Group have completed or are in the process of completing the NetCloud Private Network Partner Specialization process.

Private cellular networking is complex and can be a burden for some partners. But NetCloud Private Networks and its attendant specialties indicate that Cradlepoint recognizes that it can’t simply release products across channels and take a no-interference approach, he said, INS. says Rogers.

“They’re working on this as a solution, and the partners who sell it can really stand by it, rather than just being opportunistic and trying to sell some parts.” he said.

Wi-Fi and cellular are not one or the other, says Matt Addicks, senior solution marketing manager for Private Cellular Networks at Cradlepoint. Rather, he said, there will be several wireless technologies in the enterprise that will eventually converge.

“We need to make it easy for enterprise customers, managed service providers, system integrators and resellers to manage all of this, and we also need to wrap our own professional services around them all,” says Addicks. . “With our existing channels in his ecosystem, there are opportunities to border on all environments, especially smaller locations.”

Cradlepoint began its 5G transition a year and a half ago, launching its 5G portfolio and 5G specializations for partners. This he has achieved with over 90 solution providers and is in the process of achieving over 50 more. NetCloud Private Networks is the next step in that journey, Benvenuto said.

“We are increasing the overall market we can serve, increasing the opportunities for our services, increasing the opportunities for our solutions, all surrounded by the ecosystem partners we bring to market.” He said.

Cradlepoint’s NetCloud Private Networks will be added to Ericsson Private Networks’ offerings as a complement to Ericsson Private 5G, according to the Boise, Idaho-based company. The first version of NetCloud Private Networks offers LTE support for his CBRS spectrum in the US and is available now through select channel partners. According to the company, support for 5G and other international spectrum will begin in the second half of 2023.