Verizon Business Launches First Private Enterprise 5G Network In U.S.

The private 5G network, called On Site, is now available for enterprises and the public sector in the U.S.

Telecom giant Verizon said it’s the first carrier to the market with a commercially available private 5G network in the U.S. for enterprise businesses and the public sector.

The new network solution, called On Site 5G, is comprised of customized networks that can be designed and managed by Verizon. On Site 5G will bring secure 5G networks to enterprise campuses, industrial and manufacturing facilities, warehouses, and other premises, even where public 5G Ultra Wideband coverage is not available, according to the Basking Ridge, N.J.-based carrier.

Verizon’s existing On-Site LTE customers can upgrade to On-Site 5G, according to the carrier.

Verizon did not immediately respond to CRN’s question on whether On Site 5G will be available through its channel partners.

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5G promises data rates of 10 to 100 times faster when compared to 4G and LTE speeds of today. The next-generation cellular technology can improve the performance of use cases today, but also power brand-new and emerging real-time applications, especially in IoT, AR/VR, and at the edge of the network.

The top carriers in the U.S. — namely, Verizon and its competitors AT&T and T-Mobile — are aggressively building out their 5G networks. Early chatter was largely centered on how the technology will help consumers, but businesses are starting to see how 5G will be able to be tapped to facilitate and enhance their applications.

On Site 5G will put Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband capabilities in indoor or outdoor facilities where high-speed, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity is needed, the carrier said.

The non-standalone private network is a combination of Verizon’s 5G Ultra Wideband small cells with the LTE packet core and radios of the existing On Site LTE offering. The network can also connect to the businesses’ LAN, SD-WAN and enterprise applications. All cellular traffic stays on-premises but On Site 5G allows for authorized remote user access to enterprise applications, Verizon said.

“On Site 5G opens the commercial floodgates for the promises of 5G Ultra Wideband, allowing large enterprises and public sector organizations to custom tailor a 5G experience for any premises that demands it,” said Sampath Sowmyanarayan, chief revenue officer of Verizon Business, in a statement. “It’s the bespoke business service for what we do better than anyone else: build 5G networks that enable even the most advanced wireless, MEC, and IoT capabilities for customers on the cutting edge.”