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IEEE.org ComSoc.org IEEE Xplore Digital Library IEEE Standards IEEE Spectrum More Sites Technology Blog Toggle navigation Home About the Blog About the Techblog Editorial Team Call for Blog Post Submissions UScellular adds NetCloud from Cradlepoint to its 5G private network offerings; Buyout coming soon? Posted on May 10, 2024 by Alan Weissberger UScellular has added NetCloud Private Networks from Cradlepoint (part of Ericsson) to expand its portfolio of private cellular solutions. The company now offers Ericsson Private 5G and Ericsson’s Mission Critical Networks to its customers. By building on these capabilities, UScellular is able to support even more customers across varying areas of business. Some existing private cellular network ecosystems are pulled together piece by piece from different providers, which requires additional training and agreements. This makes it difficult for enterprise IT teams to have seamless visibility across the entire network. NetCloud Private Networks is an end-to-end private cellular network solution that removes these complexities to simplify building and operating 5G private networks. With the addition of NetCloud Private Networks to our portfolio, we can better address business challenges for customers of all sizes to connect business, industry and mission critical applications,” said Kim Kerr , senior vice president, enterprise sales and operations for UScellular. The agility, flexibility and scalability of NetCloud Private Networks helps improve coverage, security, mobility, and reliability for applications where Wi-Fi may not be enough.” NetCloud Private Networks supports enterprises who need more scalable, reliable and secure connectivity than they are getting today with traditional Wi-Fi solutions. There is significant opportunity in warehouses, logistics facilities, outdoor storage yards, manufacturing and retail operations environments to provide more connectivity. This will alleviate manual work, improve safety, and provide increased visibility. UScellular is a leader in this space by showing how a public carrier enhances the value of private network solutions,” said Manish Tiwari , head of private cellular networks, Cradlepoint and Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Networks. By adding NetCloud Private Networks to their portfolio of Ericsson private networks solutions, UScellular unlocks new opportunities for organizations to have local network coverage and address their reliability and security challenges. With solutions available to cater to both OT and IT in industrial and business environments, their customers have a choice in adopting the right private network solution for their use-cases with secure, policy-based wireless connectivity at scale.” ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that T-Mobile is seeking to buy $2 billion worth of UScellular and take over some operations and wireless spectrum licenses. A deal could be announced this month, according to people familiar with the matter. Meanwhile , Verizon is considering a deal for some of the rest of the company which is 80% owned by Telephone & Data Systems (TDS). Last year, TDS put the wireless company’s operations up for sale, as it struggled with competition from national wireless telco rivals and cable-broadband providers. Verizon is the biggest U.S. cellphone carrier by subscribers, while T-Mobile became the second largest soon after it bought rival Sprint . T-Mobile gained more customers this month after it completed its purchase of Mint Mobile , an upstart brand. The rising value of wireless licenses is a driving force behind the deal . U.S. Cellular’s spectrum portfolio touches 30 states and covers about 51 million people, according to regulatory filings. U.S. companies have spent more than $100 billion in recent years to secure airwaves to carry high-speed fifth-generation, or 5G, signals and are hunting for more. But the Federal Communications Commission has lacked the legal authority to auction new spectrum for more than a year. The drought has driven up the price of spectrum licenses at companies that already hold them. The U.S. wireless business has also matured: Carriers have sold a smartphone subscription to most adults and many children, which leaves less room for expansion as the country’s population growth slows. AT&T and Verizon have meanwhile retreated from expensive bets on the media business to focus on their core cellphone and home-internet customers. A once-crowded field of small, midsize and nationwide cellphone carriers in the U.S. is now split among Verizon, T-Mobile and AT&T, leaving few players left to take over. As one of the last pieces left on the board, U.S. Cellular has long been an attractive takeover target. For many years, the home of the Chicago White Sox has been UScellular field. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. cellular: UScellular offers wireless service to more than four million mostly rural customers across 21 states from Oregon to North Carolina. It also owns more than 4,000 cellular towers that weren’t part of the latest sale talks. The company has a market value of about $3 billion. UScellular provides a range of solutions from public/private hybrid networks, MVNO models, localized data (aka CUPS) and custom VPN approaches. Private 5G offers unparalleled reliability, security and speed, enabling seamless communication and automation. For more information: https://business.uscellular.com/products/private-cellular-networks/ References: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/uscellular-adds-cradlepoint-to-its-private-cellular-network-portfolio-302140782.html https://www.wsj.com/business/telecom/t-mobile-verizon-in-talks-to-carve-up-u-s-cellular-46d1e5e6 Betacom and UScellular Introduce 1st Private/Public Hybrid 5G Network Posted in 5G private networks , Private 5G , T-Mobile US , T-MobileUSA Tagged TDS , UScellular , Verizon Highlights of 3GPP Stage 1 Workshop on IMT 2030 (6G) Use Cases Posted on May 10, 2024 by Alan Weissberger This 3GPP May 8-10,2024 workshop held in Rotterdam, Nederlands brought the 3GPP community closer to the initiatives of regional and global research organizations, market partners (MRPs), operators’ associations and the ITU. The workshop presented the opportunity for different communities to share their views on 6G/IMT2030 Use Cases. Those communities are Operators; Verticals; Regional Alliances and ITU. The workshop was co-chaired by Mr. Jose Almodovar, SA1 Chair, and by Mr. Puneet Jain, SA Chair. It was supported by ETSI MCC, coordinated by Mr. Alain Sultan. 3GPP WG SA1 now has the task to define the 6G stage 1 requirements to be met by future 3GPP specifications. Among the more important sessions were: Day 1: Opening, Operators, Verticals Speakers: Puneet Jain (Intel), SA Chair and Jose Almodovar (TNO), SA1 Chair Operators: GSMA – GSMA Proposal on 6G – Speaker: Barbara Pareglio (GSMA) NGMN – NGMN’s 6G Vision – Speakers: Sparsh Singhal & Quan Zhao (NGMN) Panel#1 : 6G Drivers for Operators” Moderator: Balazs Bertenyi (Nokia) Panellists: Scott Migaldi (T-Mobile USA), Eric Hardouin (Orange), Xu Xiaodong (CMCC), Minsoo Na (SK Telecom), Shin-Ichi Isobe (NTT DoCoMo) Panel#2 : 6G Drivers for Verticals” Moderator: Toon Norp (KPN), former SA1 Chair Panellists: Maxime Flament (5GAA), Andreas Müller (Bosch), Jordi Gimenez (5G-MAG), Nicolas Chuberre (Thales), Tero Pesonen (TCCA), Bruno Tomas (WBA) Potential Drivers for 6G include : •Security. Used in different contexts, both about network security and user data confidentiality (interesting to note that 5G Security is not widely deployed. It requires a 5G SA network few of which are commercially available). • Maintaining continuity of service and robust security, especially crucial in times of crisis • Identify all relevant new threat-factors for 6G, and develop mitigation solution (e.g. detection and protection against electromagnetic threats) • Quantum-safe...