PHILADELPHIA, PA — Comcast Business has deployed a combined private wireless and cellular network at Smartlink’s headquarters in downtown Annapolis, Maryland, extending Comcast Corporation’s (NASDAQ: CMCSA) private-network strategy into corporate offices as businesses seek alternatives to costly, fragmented in-building wireless systems.
The deployment combines Neutral Host cellular coverage with a dedicated Citizens Broadband Radio Service, or CBRS, private network on a single managed platform. Comcast is positioning the architecture as an alternative to traditional Distributed Antenna Systems, or DAS, and separate operational networks.
Smartlink, which designs, builds and maintains wireless infrastructure for carriers and tower companies, selected Comcast Business to address cellular coverage gaps at its headquarters while creating a separate network for building operations.
The Neutral Host portion uses a Multi-Operator Core Network gateway and cellular radio equipment to provide voice and data coverage for building occupants across participating carriers. Comcast Business integrates the system with national wireless carriers through its existing carrier relationships.
The same platform provides a dedicated CBRS network using a cloud-based 4G and 5G mobile core that operates separately from public carrier traffic. That network can support applications including security cameras, access-control systems, environmental and occupancy sensors, asset tracking and digital signage.
The architecture targets a persistent problem for commercial properties, where energy-efficient glass, building materials and dense layouts can weaken cellular signals. Property owners have traditionally addressed those gaps through combinations of DAS, Wi-Fi and dedicated operational networks, potentially requiring multiple vendors and separate infrastructure.
Smartlink Chief Executive Officer Jason Campbell said the company had struggled to find a system capable of addressing both its cellular and operational networking requirements.
“Comcast Business delivered a single solution that solves our coverage challenges and gives us a dedicated operational network,” Campbell stated.
The private network uses SIM-based device credentials and traffic encryption. Comcast said its cloud infrastructure and CBRS radio equipment also allow the network to be expanded as additional devices or applications are added.
Justin Markle, senior vice president of wireless partnerships and development at Comcast, said commercial offices have faced a trade-off between accepting weak cellular coverage and investing in multiple networking systems.
“By combining carrier-grade cellular service and private wireless operations into a single, scalable solution, organizations can simplify connectivity and manage costs,” Markle stated.
The Smartlink project expands Comcast Business’s private wireless portfolio beyond deployments in hospitality, higher education and professional sports venues.
The company previously deployed an on-campus Neutral Host network at the University of Virginia, a private wireless network at The Sound Hotel Seattle Belltown and a private 5G network for the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena.
Comcast said the deployments use its licensed CBRS spectrum and cloud-based infrastructure as it seeks to make private wireless networks a broader component of its enterprise connectivity business.
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