The common conception of 5G wireless service is as a faster radio connection for laptops and smartphones, multiple gigabits over the air. But you may need to revise most everything you think about 5G to understand its true significance.
For enterprises, which are increasingly interested in using 5G indoors, as a networking technology, one of the most important aspects of 5G is that it is about structuring the network for defined service in a way that could never be done before. That aspect of the matter, which is largely about software, means that 5G is much more than a radio upgrade.
It could, in fact, bring significant change to the way that software runs networking for corporate LANs.
"Nokia and Ericsson and Cisco are in the middle of an interesting transition," said Özer Dondurmacioğlu, who is vice president of technical marketing for two-year-old startup Celona[1], in an interview with ZDNet via Zoom.
"For them, transitioning to 5G feels just like a radio transition, but the software architecture is completely changing," says Dondurmacioğlu. "They are in the middle of this big, invisible software architecture revolution."
That software revolution is how Celona expects to make an end-run around Cisco and others. The startup is a young contender in a broad movement to bring 5G to enterprises as a supplement to, and sometimes a replacement for, WiFi-based wireless LANs.
Celona has received $40 million in venture capital financing from top funds, including Lightspeed, Norwest, In-Q-Tel, Cervin Ventures, the venture capital arm of wireless chip giant Qualcomm, and the venture capital arm of Japan's giant telco NTT.
A Series B