Like the song says, if “I can make it here, I can make it anywhere,” and that’s kind of how the founder of Artemis Networks feels after a successful Times Square proof-of-concept for pCell, the technology he spent years developing.
Artemis CEO Steve Perlman said they can now show that the technology has been fully vetted by Boldyn, a reputable infrastructure company that specializes in neutral host solutions and possesses the capability of deploying throughout New York City and beyond.
pCell was announced on February 14, 2014, in New York, so it took about 10 years and one week before they could announce it was fully deployed in Times Square. Testing took place over the course of several months, showing the radios are rugged enough to withstand a New York winter, with “no hitches,” he said.
The Times Square test involved 128 Pixel unlocked phones and 20 MHz of 3.5 GHz spectrum borrowed from Dish Network, which agreed to let Artemis and Boldyn use it under a Special Temporary Authorization (STA) granted by the FCC. Artemis’ technology is “frequency agile,” Perlman said. The test delivered speeds of 700 Mbps.
The logistics are notable given the location. They stacked previously used Pixel 5 phones on tripods and hired people to stand next to them to essentially guard them and prevent them from being stolen.
The Artemis pCell vRAN consists of six cell-free radio head sites connected through fiber to three servers in a Boldyn edge data center. It took Boldyn less than one hour to install each Artemis radio head site, including connectivity to Boldyn’s NYC fiber backbone network.
(Artemis)
Boldyn Networks combined six companies under one name last year: BAI Communications, Mobilitie, Transit Wireless, ZenFi Networks, Signal Point Systems and Vilicom. It has access to the type of infrastructure in New York City that would allow for a broader deployment.
Artemis is the vendor in this situation and Perlman said Boldyn is talking with potential private network customers and mobile operators. The technology is neutral host, so it is designed to work with any mobile carrier.
Original article can be seen at: