An Arlington-based company helping usher in the future of 5G is set for launch.
With infrastructure, financial backers and big clients in place, Federated Wireless is rolling out its first commercial product.
The company is deploying a network to carry Citizens Band Radio Service, or CBRS. Also called the Innovation Band, the 150 megahertz band of spectrum is now being allocated by the FCC and is equivalent to all the high-speed spectrum that AT&T owns. CBRS is used by cellphone service carriers, cable companies and other enterprises for internet service and other wireless communication.
For example, cable companies are able to offer wider services, large malls can control parking meters and cities can collect data from train and bus stops using the network.
To fund its commercialization, Federated Wireless secured $51 million in a Series C round in early September. Existing investors Allied Minds, American Tower and GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, got in on the deal, joined by new backers Pennant Investors and SBA Communications. The fresh funding brings its total since launching in 2012 to $120 million.
“All of the funding was in preparation for this commercial launch – to accelerate this deployment and expand the market opportunity,” Federated CEO Iyad Tarazi told Inno. “The market size, interest and participation are much bigger than expected. In totality we have about 25 to 30 customers in early deployment stages.”
To get potential clients on board, Federated created an open ecosystem called the CBRS Alliance that now has more than 140 companies in it, including wireless carriers, cable companies, chip makers, equipment makers, Wi-Fi companies and others. Verizon, Charter Communications and American Tower are among the startup's initial customers.
Tarazi said the spectrum – essentially real estate for wireless communications – will be available to anyone who wants to get into the 5G space, not just carriers.
The firm currently has 80 employees, with more than 50 in Arlington who last week moved into a new office in the Ballston neighborhood.
“Have more than 15 PhDs on staff, we’re well funded, backed by companies like Charter, and [CBRS] is all we do,” Tarazi said. “All we have done since we started is shared-spectrum and CBRS. We live and die by it.”
He said Federated works like a neutral controller for the resource that’s now available from the FCC, and its shared model allows open access to the spectrum.
“We’re not there to take customer data, and we’re a small company that is very focused, so we’re able to get support from a lot of other companies in the form of investment to help us create the product and R&D to create a model where everyone benefits from an open network,” Tarazi said. “If we were holding the resource and selling it, we wouldn’t be here. We’re facilitators, so everyone can get benefit with the least cost possible.”
