US-based vendor Celona developed what it claimed was the first end-to-end neutral host platform operating on CBRS shared private wireless spectrum, a product designed to extend public cellular coverage in enterprise environments with poor reception.

The service is initially available in the US through T-Mobile US’ bring your own coverage 2.0 initiative.

Puneet Shetty (pictured), VP of product management for Celona, told Mobile World Live the cloud-based neutral host service could be used to broadcast public cellular services from mobile operators, or be employed to extend Celona’s private network into a building for enterprise use cases.

“From an operator’s perspective, it’s increasing their coverage without having to invest in infrastructure,” Shetty stated. “It’s a completely integrated end-to-end solution, making it very simple for customers to deploy and reuse their existing infrastructure”.

Shetty claimed the private wireless neutral host platform was up to 40 per cent cheaper than a distributed antenna system (DAS) while noting it could be deployed in weeks in comparison to DAS “which would probably take them years or months”.

While the service is currently 4G, the executive said Celona will roll-out a backwards compatible 5G version next year, once the device ecosystem expands. Celona is also collaborating with Verizon and AT&T on certifying its service on their networks with a target date of 2024.

“We are starting to have early discussions with operators in the UK, Europe and Asia,” Shetty said. “But I expect that to really come into play probably towards the end of next year or the year after.”