Celona Inc., a California-based private 5G network provider, today announced two new capabilities to its enterprise clients and partner roster.

The company introduced Celona Aerloc, a suite of security features and integrations to address the complex security needs of industrial enterprises, including zero-trust network access and device authentication. It also announced its Frequency Partner Program, a revamped channel partner offering tiered structures and specialized certifications for leading partners, including Verizon and NTT DATA. The program aims to support global deployments and enhance partner enablement.

Puneet Shetty, Celona’s vice president of product management and technical marketing, briefed me on the announcements and shared his insights. He said Celona is investing in four key areas: security, community, the public/private network ecosystem and the growing device ecosystem.

Celona Aerloc: next-gen private 5G wireless security for OT and IT systems

With the increasing digitization of industrial information technology and operational technology systems, Aerloc provides “enhanced security and high-speed connectivity without sacrificing agility,” according to a company announcement. The company says Aerloc delivers four key network security elements for Industry 4.0, described as the next phase of the digitization of the manufacturing sector:

• Extended SIM-based authentication
• Unified zero-trust enforcement
• Dynamic and distributed policy enforcement
• Air-gapping between IT and OT networks on a common private 5G network

“We’re seeing a lot of our 5G customers who have proven their use case and are now moving beyond the POC stage to deploying this solution at scale and globally,” said Shetty. “When that happens, you need to think about your product and features more holistically and how the ecosystem around the product can help support customers on their journey from early adopters to mainstream users.”

Celona Frequency: expanded channel partner program

As it launches its new product capabilities, Celona is also expanding its global channel partner program, now called Celona Frequency. The company aims to create a community of users, partners, and solution providers to facilitate information sharing and support for large-scale deployments.

Since launching its partner program in 2022, Celona says it has signed more than 150 global partners. The Frequency program adds new partner tiers, training, and marketing resources. It also includes a global agreement with TD SYNNEX, a leading global IT distributor and solutions aggregator, to enable resellers and service providers to deliver Celona products and services to more enterprises.

“In the last few years, we have created detailed sales and technical certification programs for our partners along with hands-on training,” Shetty said. “We also provide specialized certifications. Partners who offer our entire suite of managed services can earn Celona managed service provider certification. We’ll also work with partners that feature a strong security practice to help them attain security partner certification so they can assist our customers with all their integrations.”

Celona’s top global systems integrators include Capgemini, HCLTech, NTT DATA and Tech Mahindra. The company also has relationships with partners in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East.

Shetty said Celona will host a Frequency community event in November, during which customers can exchange ideas with partners and solution providers, launching an advisory council of customers and partners.

Final thoughts

Private cellular has been high in interest and low in actual deployments for several years but the technology is coming into its own. A few years ago, there was a lot of misinformation about the role of private cellular, how it might interoperate with public cellular, where to use it and the implications to Wi-Fi. Also, many businesses initially looked to the companies that provide equipment to the mobile operators, such as Nokia and Ericsson for solutions, but those proved to be too expensive and complex to deploy.

Celona fills an interesting gap as it offers private 4G/5G but is set up and managed like Wi-Fi, and the company has had early success with early adopter companies. This week’s announcements around security and partners should help the company scale to the mass market. The network is critical to business operations and security integration simplifies the process of ensuring the network is protected versus having to deploy it as an overlay.

The partner program enables Celona to reach a much broader set of customers than they could on their own. With networking, most network infrastructure is sold through channel partners, who are trusted advisers to network professionals.

Zeus Kerravala is a principal analyst at ZK Research, a division of Kerravala Consulting. He wrote this article for SiliconANGLE.

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