CES Technologies puts on an innovative show with Verizon Private Wireless Network

After experimenting with a few potential options, CES Technologies reached out to Verizon to identify more reliable, efficient and cost-effective temporary wireless network service solutions. Verizon proposed a private wireless network solution in partnership with Celona, a leading manufacturer of hardware for high-speed cellular networks.

Before working with Verizon, CES Technologies ran into several difficulties while trying to find the right mix of support and solutions. “We were getting our public cellular from various carriers and vendors. We were going through a consumer-type process, which was painful,” Banks said. This involved a lot of time spent calling customer support numbers in the hope of getting timely help. “We also just were not getting a full solution from an engineering or design standpoint. Now that we have this business-to-business partnership, we’re able to mitigate all of that. Verizon is able to bring all those pieces together and connect us with sales engineers that can close those gaps.”

CES Technologies’s new private cellular networks deliver reliable, low-latency connectivity for critical applications in the most challenging environments. This solution is powered by Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), a proven and widely compatible industry standard. By leveraging CBRS’ 3550-3700 MHz frequency spectrum (3.5 GHz band), private wireless networks can avoid some common problems—such as interference and saturation—that CES Technologies routinely grappled with during live events.

CBRS connectivity makes it possible for CES Technologies to serve event organizers better in multiple ways. For example, CES Technologies can now carry out faster deployments, increase network uptime and provide a greater degree of redundancy. The technology firm is also better able to tailor its network designs to each event’s specific requirements.

“With Verizon, we are building private cellular networks that are based in the CBRS spectrum, so it’s in a public citizen band spectrum. There’s no licensing involved,” Banks said. “When we get into high-density environments, Verizon is able to help us pre-plan and, in extreme instances, make arrangements for priority licenses for that spectrum.”

Even when CES Technologies has to deploy network services in an environment where other carriers might also be operating networks on the same spectrum, Verizon’s engineering team can help mitigate potential interference issues in advance.

A private wireless network also provides far broader coverage than the Wi-Fi access points (APs) that CES Technologies previously deployed, which could only cover between 50 and 150 feet. “It provides a good amount of coverage for those areas that we are not usually able to reach, or that take us a bit longer to get to because we don’t usually have a path to get there with cable or fiber,” Mason said.

With this solution, CES Technologies can provide robust network connectivity for events using just two to three access points rather than 20 or 30. This new approach also greatly reduces labor costs, allowing CES Technologies to more efficiently deliver services to its customers and even pass on cost savings to non-profit organizations such as Global Citizen.

CES Technologies sees its collaboration with Verizon as critical to its future growth. “It's important for us to find partners that are willing to innovate with us. The technology that we have to support changes exponentially, but the budgets that we have to work under for our clients don't change. We have to find solutions that can be nimble enough to adapt to our customers’ needs but are cost-effective and provide us that solid result we can trust,” Cook said.

One result of this new private wireless network powered by Verizon and Celona is that CES Technologies can deliver a higher standard of service in less time and at a lower cost. “There are certain applications and certain events where budget and time just don’t allow for us to deliver Wi-Fi to all the areas that are needed. By building a private cellular network, we’re able to put up fewer devices and reach greater distances than you can with other technologies,” Banks said. “With private cellular, we’re regularly delivering service more than 1,000 feet away from any infrastructure. That’s an absolute game-changer. It allows us to cover great distances with very small amounts of gear, and therefore a lot less labor.”

Deployment is far faster and easier now, as well. “To support the number of towers and the cradle points that we have to set up, we previously used backhaul shots, which are point-to-point links that send internet over long distances. In some areas, those can become unwieldy due to radio frequency interference. Our new private wireless network solution eliminated the need for backhauling altogether,” said Mason.

Security, a top priority for a live event, is an area where a private wireless network especially shines. “There is no way to onboard to the network and connect other devices onto a private wireless network without a physical SIM card. This puts us completely in control. Additionally, that SIM card has to be authorized. We can even lock those SIM cards to the physical devices that we've installed them in. Should a device get compromised, no one’s able to move that card to another device,” Banks said. Since no one without an authorized SIM card may join the network, interference is no longer an issue, which means authorized users can enjoy a higher standard of network performance.

CES Technologies’s strong partnership with Verizon has allowed the company to provide its current customers with reliable network connectivity and offer affordable services to new ones, setting the stage for many exciting live events to come. “Verizon really stepped up to understand our use case and the need. We build temporary networks in environments that are constantly changing. It’s hard to build that kind of environment in a lab and truly test it. Verizon took the time to dig in, understand how we do our job, what result we need to deliver and helped us navigate the tools that we can apply to those results,” Cook said. “Everybody wins. We want everyone to be successful. We’re really proud of the partnership.”