Boise, Idaho – March 16, 2021 – Cradlepoint, the global leader in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G wireless network edge solutions, today announced its new, purpose-built R500 Private LTE (PLTE) edge router powered by the NetCloud Service; an all-inclusive networking service that includes cloud-delivered software, endpoints, training, and support. The new R500 is a compact, ruggedized, and cost-effective wireless edge router designed to work on all CBRS bands. It’s the latest addition to Cradlepoint’s Private Cellular Network (PCN) portfolio of PCN-capable endpoints for branch, mobile, and IoT use cases over LTE and 5G.
According to a new IDC report, the PCN market is exploding and forecast to reach $5.7B by 2024. Enterprise and public sector organizations continue to turn to cellular wireless technology for broader connectivity over wider distances with better network performance, security, and predictable bandwidth costs.
Networks with large coverage areas, such as airports, malls, factories, mines, warehouses, stadiums, schools and cities, struggle with traditional connectivity approaches, including wireless LAN, public Wi-Fi, and LTE. Wireless LAN and Wi-Fi networks don’t “densify” cost-effectively, especially over large distances, and data charges over public cellular networks can be cost-prohibitive. Cradlepoint’s new R500, powered by its NetCloud Service, utilizes PLTE and public domain CBRS spectrum to remove these economic barriers while providing the performance, security, and centralized management that business-critical network infrastructures require.
“PCN demand is quickly growing, especially with new use cases emerging amid the pandemic,” says Donna Johnson, vice president of product and solutions marketing at Cradlepoint. “We see industries like energy, transportation, smart cities, and manufacturing turn to PCNs with newer use cases—such as city-wide remote learning—also cropping up. PCNs are going from niche to mainstream virtually overnight. With the addition of the R500 edge router to Cradlepoint’s PCN-capable portfolio, customers can now get reliability, scalability, security, and comprehensive management for branch, mobile. and IoT use cases on both public and private LTE and 5G Wireless WANs.”
“Rapid uptake for Private LTE and 5G will transform the enterprise connectivity market in the 2020s, fueled by a broad set of industry stakeholders, spanning network technology suppliers, service providers, and system integrators, working together to create a viable solution ecosystem that delivers on attributes such as performance and latency,” says IDC Senior Research Analyst, IoT and Mobile Network Infrastructure Patrick Filkins. “Historically, spectrum has been a barrier to Private LTE/5G rollouts in the enterprise. However, with a broader set of licensed, unlicensed and shared spectrum models emerging, this challenge is gradually being addressed. Cradlepoint’s R500 edge router demonstrates that understanding by adding key support on all CBRS bands, giving U.S.-based enterprises next-gen technology for wireless WAN connectivity.”
In addition to the R500, Cradlepoint offers a range of LTE and 5G routers and adapters to support PCN deployments, all of which are offered as part of its NetCloud Service. Cradlepoint has numerous existing PCN deployments of note, like Murray City Schools in Utah that launched a city-wide private network last month to support remote learning. Another example is PK Solutions. They deployed an on-site PLTE network to keep IoT devices and wearables connected at oil refineries.
For more information on Cradlepoint’s R500-PLTE offering and its complete PCN portfolio, please visit https://cradlepoint.com/products/plte-for-business/
Cradlepoint is a global leader in cloud-delivered 4G and 5G wireless network edge solutions. Cradlepoint’s NetCloud™ platform and cellular routers deliver a pervasive, secure, and software-defined Wireless WAN edge to connect people, places, and things – anywhere. More than 25,000 businesses and government agencies around the world, including many Global 2000 organizations and top public sector agencies, rely on Cradlepoint to keep mission-critical sites, points of commerce, field forces, vehicles, and IoT devices always connected. Cradlepoint was founded in 2006, acquired by Ericsson in 2020, and operates today as a standalone subsidiary within Ericsson’s Business Area Technologies and New Businesses. Cradlepoint is headquartered in Boise, Idaho, with development centers in Silicon Valley and India and international offices in the UK and Australia. www.cradlepoint.com
