New 5G LAN technology from Celona is being used to address the latest outdoor wireless connectivity challenges now facing higher education institutions
Celona Booth #1327 at EDUCAUSE
PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 26, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- EDUCAUSE - Celona, the leading innovators of 5G LAN solutions, and California State University, Stanislaus today announced the first campus-wide deployment of new Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) technology within a higher education institution.
Leveraging new unlicensed 4G/5G cellular spectrum recently made available by the FCC, the 4G/5G private mobile network is designed to blanket the 228-acre Stanislaus State campus in Turlock, California, delivering pervasive wireless broadband access and wireless backhaul for a range of vital applications.
The new CBRS infrastructure, currently in production, is initially being used to create dynamic and collaborative outdoor learning centers around campus for over 10,000 students and staff as well as to enable a range of new IoT, safety and operational applications in the future, all of which support the California State University’s 2025 graduation initiative.
“We see CBRS technology as a real game-changer,” said Geoffrey Cirullo, Deputy Chief Information Officer at Stanislaus State. “Not only does it fundamentally change the speed and flexibility by which we can deliver a more deterministic wireless service, it opens the door to a wide range of potential use cases that enhance teaching and learning outdoors and can support new applications that simply can’t tolerate any sort of network latency.”
During the global COVID-19 pandemic, fast, reliable, and secure wireless connectivity has become a lifeline for the education sector. Schools, colleges, and universities are facing more and more connectivity challenges while serving their students, faculty, and staff.
Consequently, universities have had to quickly adapt to e-learning and utilize new technologies such as augmented reality, digital record keeping and high-speed campus-wide wireless services to keep up with unprecedented connectivity demands.
And for many universities, COVID concerns have created new challenges to quickly create outdoor locations across campus where students can collaborate online. While Wi-Fi continues to be the primary access method within schools, private 4G/5G cellular technology is now being used to quickly extend these services while providing new means by which higher education institutions can enable unique services that require more deterministic and reliable wireless connections. IoT sensors, video surveillance cameras, public safety and notification systems for parking spaces and meters are among the most popular new services to leverage private CBRS networks on campus.
CBRS IN ACTION
At Stanislaus State, CBRS access points deployed atop campus buildings communicate directly with remote cellular-to-Wi-Fi gateways to seamlessly extend Stanislaus State popular Eduroam network throughout the campus. Meanwhile the CBRS can provide seamless mobility and native private cellular connectivity, as needed, to CBRS-enabled mobile devices.
By backhauling Wi-Fi traffic over CBRS, Stanislaus State can effectively eliminate the costly and cumbersome task of trenching additional fiber while speeding its ability to deliver broadband wireless to permanent or temporary locations where it’s needed the most.
BIG BENEFITS WITH CBRS
“Finding low-cost, quick and effective wireless connectivity solutions is no longer an option for educational institutions,” said Özer Ddondurmacıoğlu, VP of Marketing at Celona. “CBRS is really the secret ingredient in addressing the growing challenges of reliable connectivity.”
With CBRS LTE, educational institutions can offer a better student experience, enhance campus safety, and reduce operational costs. Not only can these high-performance private LTE networks deliver reliable on-campus connectivity for universities, but they can also bridge the digital divide with off-campus connectivity for disadvantaged students at home.
“Looking forward we see some real value in CBRS for indoor neutral host applications that would allow us to improve cellular coverage by bridging our private 4G/5G network with public service offered by mobile network operators,” concluded Cirullo.
Interested parties can find out more by visiting Celona’s Booth #1327 at this year’s EDUCAUSE Annual Conference taking place online and in Philadelphia this October 26-29, 2021, or by emailing us at hello@celona.io.
ABOUT STANISLAUS STATE
With a diverse student body, faculty, and staff of more than 10,000, Stanislaus State is located in the heart of California’s Central Valley. Stanislaus State is part of the California State University system and was established in 1957 in Turlock, California. Stanislaus State is a public university that has been rated in the top 10 public universities in the new West Coast Master's category by U.S. News & World Report magazine as well as a best buy in higher education for the past seven years.
ABOUT CELONA
Celona, the enterprise 5G company, is focused on enabling organizations of all sizes to implement the latest generation of digital automation initiatives in enterprise wireless. Taking advantage of dynamic spectrum sharing options such as CBRS in the United States, Celona’s Edgeless Enterprise architecture is designed to automate the adoption of private cellular wireless by enterprise organizations and their technology partners. For more information, please visit celona.io and follow Celona on Twitter @celonaio.
MEDIA CONTACT
Jay Nichols
Nichols Communications
jay@nicholscomm.com
+1 (408)772-1551
