Partner POV | When Would a 5G Neutral Host Network Work for Your Enterprise?

This article was written and contributed by our partner, Ericsson.

From offices to manufacturing plants to transport hubs, many enterprise environments are little more than lightly furnished Faraday cages. Built with wiring, rebar, and metal beams in walls, these buildings tend to block radio frequency signals from getting through, creating an enclosure nearly impossible for cellular signals to penetrate. So, how can employees and customers break out of these connectionless cages? A neutral host network.

What is a neutral host?

Can you hear me now? Data — and likely your own experience — indicate that most employees don't get great coverage inside commercial buildings, creating safety and communication issues that are hazardous for people and operations. In many cases, in-building coverage can be improved through a distributed antenna system (DAS). However, this solution is often cost-prohibitive, and its hardware requirements make it challenging to scale and incompatible with modern 5G networks.

Instead, extending coverage from up to three carriers into a building through a single Ericsson Radio Dot System can lead enterprises down the path to five bars of public carrier coverage. This approach — known as a neutral host, coverage extension, multi-operator radio access network (MORAN), or multi-operator core network — extends coverage inside a building from public carriers such as AT&T, T-Mobile, or Verizon. Neutral host networks can replace existing DAS solutions, making the network more scalable for the future. And, because neutral host networks use the same infrastructure as private cellular networks, their Radio Dot architecture can simultaneously support neutral host and private network solutions.

The benefits of a neutral host solution

Wireless WAN (WWAN) solutions bring flexibility, scalability, improved performance, and support for emerging technologies to enterprise businesses, making cellular-connected routers an asset. However, these routers can only work if they have access to a cellular network, making neutral host solutions critical to accessing the benefits of WWAN in buildings. Additional neutral host network advantages include:

• Shared infrastructure which utilizes up to 80% less footprint, significantly reducing the cost of deploying and maintaining separate wireless networks and Radio Dot Systems in the same location.
• Provisioning strong and consistent coverage inside buildings to ultimately boost property value and tenant or employee satisfaction.
• Simplified scalability as users, networks, and operations grow, particularly with 5G and future technologies in mind.
• Up to 70% less energy consumption and twice as fast to deploy than DAS solutions.

A neutral host network offers a highly efficient, scalable, and future-proof solution for providing reliable wireless coverage indoors. By enabling multiple carriers to share the same infrastructure, neutral hosts can lower capital expenditures (CapEx) by nearly 50%, improve service quality, and simplify network management, making them an increasingly popular choice for building owners and mobile network operators.

Visualizing a neutral host use case

When contemplating how a neutral host works indoors, a factory setting is an ideal way to illustrate the architecture and benefits. Factories with one or two assembly lines are becoming less common. Alternatively, many factories are upsizing, with some large factories — such as automobile or airline manufacturing plants — as expansive as 70 million sq. ft. In an increasingly litigious society, if public cell service is inadequate in a space that size, it can create safety risks that building owners are liable for. If someone on the factory floor is injured or a natural disaster occurs, employees may be unable to phone for help. Or, in the case of an active shooter or fire, a landline may not always be accessible, emphasizing the need for reliable cell coverage.

Radio dots for a neutral host solution can be placed throughout the indoor factory environment to enable improved voice and data coverage for personal devices, keeping visitors and employees connected in all scenarios. As a bonus, this also helps meet high-capacity demands and supports low-latency 5G use cases. For example, in Columbus, Indiana, Toyota Material Handling integrated a Radio Dot System through a single neutral host and private 5G network provider, boosting network reliability and security in an almost 200,000-square-foot warehouse while extending coverage into buildings across a major production complex using the same Radio Dot System.

Getting started with indoor coverage extension  

If a 5G or LTE neutral host solution seems enticing, there are just a few more things to remember before mapping out an indoor coverage extension plan.

• Coverage extension is enabled through the Ericsson Radio Dot System, with dots typically mounted within 20 feet of the ceiling. Ericsson Micro Radios may supplement the dots for peripheral outdoor spaces or where mounting height exceeds 20 feet.
• A subscription-based enterprise 5G coverage solution is turn-key for the facility owner because it is managed by a single provider such as Ericsson.
• An ideal neutral host provider offers a scalable solution that allows enterprises to expand their connectivity with a private cellular network and/or multiple carriers.