Ericsson and Proptivity, which is a subsidiary of real estate management company Stronghold Group, announced a new neutral host indoor 5G solution that is designed to help communications service providers (CSPs) and real estate owners cut costs while delivering improved connectivity. The solution combines Proptivity’s branded Gigabit 5G network, with Ericsson’s Radio Dot System, a modular indoor radio system that the vendor says addresses a wider range of indoor environments with a common, singular solution.
Proptivity has heavily invested in its Gigabit 5G promise, having dedicated nearly $3 million to these networks during its five-year roll-out. On its website, the company explains that it finances, builds and operates active indoor networks with full 5G and 4G functionality. Then, CSPs can connect their macro networks directly to those indoor networks, enabling them to easily and cost effectively service its customers in those buildings. According to the company, its Gigabit 5G is compatible with all buildings, from shopping malls to hotel to office buildings, hotels and can support any 5G device, including robots, sensors, cameras, printers and even coffee machines.
The Ericsson 5G Radio Dot System supports multi-technology, multi-band, multi-operator and unlicensed deployments, and features like 4×4 MIMO, carrier aggregation and 256 QAM in TDD mid-bands and FDD bands. On its website, Ericsson revealed that more than 120 operators in over 70 countries have deployed the system in various types of venues.
In a press release, Ericsson claimed that 80% of mobile data is used indoor, indicating that high-performing, in-building connectivity is “vital” to attract tenants and visitors. “By using Proptivity’s newly launched Gigabit 5G powered by Ericsson’s Radio Dot System, service providers can unleash the power of their outdoor 5G, indoors. Real estate owners will have a unique selling point towards tenants and visitors. Service providers will be able to connect to a Neutral Host 5G network. Users on their end, regardless of which service provider they use, will have access to high-performing 5G,” the company continued.
Proptivity CEO Mikael Lundman said that deployments of its Gigabit 5G indoor networks in major buildings are scheduled to begin in Sweden later this year.
“We are proud to partner with an innovative player like Proptivity,” commented Jenny Lindqvist, head of Central and Northern Europe at Ericsson. “With our joint solution we bridge several challenges of indoor connectivity and bring high-performance 5G to consumers and enterprises, regardless of where they are or which operator they use. This agreement with Proptivity is groundbreaking for setting a first 5G Indoor Neutral Host in Europe.”
