How do small businesses add a Private Carrier Network?

Are you thinking about a private carrier network?

• Is this on your roadmap?
• What would you do with it?
• Would you add IoT capabilities without the fear of getting hacked?
• Would you automate some functions that you didn’t have before?
• Have you thought about a Private Carrier Network (PCN) before?

It all sounds like fun but it can help your business grow and save money through automation. Look at the apps you use today, at first they seemed like a pain, but now they’re saving you money and time.

(Full blog post is here.)

More free time means more time to build the business. You want to increase productivity through automation where you can. That and have a very secure network.

Maybe you would add an eSIM to your smart devices to get your internal network running your own apps and controlling your devices securely and cost-effectively.

If you’re a small business wanting to dive into private LTE or 5G networks, even adding Wi-Fi can be a challenge. How can you get started?

There is an app for that! At least a process that can help you get started. I am working with a group called My Digi Force that digitized the process so that small and medium businesses can do more on their own at a very low entry cost.

This start-up team removes the biggest obstacle! so getting started is easy and cheaper. They can guide you through the process so you can build a budget without any commitments. Think about it, doing the upfront work yourself with step-by-step instructions using your smartphone to create a preliminary design and get an estimate of what it may cost makes a lot of sense.

That’s what you want, isn’t it? A preliminary design to understand what it will look like and what cost.

This model helps you create your own RF model to understand coverage and a Bill of Materials (BOM) to estimate what it could cost. All by signing up and using this app.

Simple for you! Sign up online and then use the app. Automation baby! I love it!

So what’s your excuse now? Is it because you’re a small to medium business? Then this will really help you overcome the initial obstacles

Wait, won’t I need carrier spectrum to do this?

In the USA, that’s taken care of thanks to the FCC releasing CBRS, (Citizens Broadband Radio Spectrum). It operates in the 3.5GHz range with is in between Wi-Fi spectrum of 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz ranges.

We have the spectrum! Now what?

The way CBRS systems work is that you have to sign up to the Spectrum Access System (SAS) provider to bring the radios live. Many companies offer this, even Google. The process is pretty easy. There is a fee, just so you know.

When the radios get turned up, it needs to be done by a Certified Professional Installer (CPI).

How do I get started?

I have the process below, or you can look at the Magna App . You can see how it works. Then you can contact MDF .

Here is how it works for the initial design and budgeting.

1. Think about how and what you will use the PCN for, meaning:

• IoT functions like controlling your heating, cooling, alarms, locks, machinery, or anything that can connect,
• Video for security or control,
• Robotics if that’s your thing,
• Private LTE or 5G network for your smart devices,
• Neutral hosted network if that’s your thing,
• Whatever else you may need,

2. Do a wireless assessment, basically, look at what you have today,

• What do you have today, hopefully you know, if not, ask your tech person,
• Or you could take pictures and ask My Digi Force for help in this area,

Site Survey using the Magna app:

• Perform a site inspection from the pictures you take
• Show you the placement of indoor small cells

Then the Magna app will create a preliminary design, meaning:

• Show you the RF coverage you can get,
• Help you with device planning and modeling,
• Help you with an installation plan helping you estimate installation costs,
• Create a Bill of Materials (BOM) for you to estimate the costs,

There you go, you got started using an app! Good job!

How would I build it?

OK, it’s just following the process;

1. Provisioning which you can do yourself or you can work with My Digi Force do it,

• Order the hardware,
• Order the services to be installed (get quotes),
• Complete your network planning,
• Define core requirements which could get tricky,

2. Installation,

• Install the wiring, hardware, radios, and make all the connections,
• Commission and integrate the equipment, this is basically powering everything up and then configuring it and testing it so that it works the way you want,

3. Testing and Turn up,

• This is the fun part. you can test the network by using the devices and making sure the coverage meets your expectations,
• Then, turn it up live and start using your very own carrier network.

Sure, it looks like a lot of work, but so did setting up your smartphone when you first got it. This is automating the process so that the smaller businesses have a shot at adding an indoor private carrier-grade network. How cool is that? And you can get started all on your own!

What will you do with this network?

You could do any of those to increase your productivity as well as be secure. What will you do when you have all those cool features? Hopefully, enjoy your free time to build your business.

You may have Wi-Fi but get frustrated when it hands off to another access point. Maybe you are worried about someone sitting outside your office to hack into your network and get your secure data. How good is your firewall? Do you worry about this? We have to be careful. I believe this will help you.

easy for you to move ahead with your own PCN.?

Why do I like this?

Well for one, my ex-Nokia friends created a company called My Digi Force, how cool is that? (I’ll call it MDF because I am all about acronyms). They created an app called Magna to help the end-user capture the data to create a preliminary RF design by using their smartphone camera!

That’s why I like this because small systems can be designed and cost upfront by easily using this app.

Look at this slide deck to have a better understanding.

OK, I didn’t want to bore you with all the details, including acronyms and definitions. However, if you want to learn more, I put this slide deck together with the MDF team to help you along.

See the Slide Show here.

Learn more!

Go to www.mydigiforce.com to learn more.? Tell them Wade sent you.