LAN equipment and platform provider Celona unveiled a free private cellular device certification program targeted at interoperability testing of 4G LTE and 5G end-user equipment running on its enterprise 5G LAN. The move tackles a significant hurdle toward broader private network deployments.

Celona said its program uses its 5G LAN access points, edge software, and SIM/eSIM credentials to validate compatible devices. It also tests key enterprise-focused performance metrics like throughput, packet error rates, latency, and handover times, and can test features such as quality of service and enterprise 5G LAN routing.

The program has already certified industrial handhelds, tablets, smartphones, IoT gateways, and CPE devices from Apple, Google, Cradlepoint, Zebra Technologies, Sierra Wireless, Inseego, MultiTech, and Getac. These include Apple's iPhone 11, 12, and iPad Pro devices, and Google's Pixel line of smartphones.

Celona itself is approaching the private wireless market both as a direct vendor tapping into the Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum as well as through partnerships with telecom operators.

The vendor earlier this year signed a deal with Verizon Business to provide its LAN equipment for Verizon Business’ On Site LTE and 5G service. That service supports private networks in multiple configurations for a private core on-premises, or in a public or private cloud.

While limited to just Celona’s equipment and platform, the testing should go a long way toward addressing enterprise deployment challenges.

A panel discussion at the recent ConnectX event noted that adding new technology and spectrum layers through a private 5G wireless network could bring unworkable challenges.

“I need a whole new set of experts in order to manage an entirely different set of technology, and it turns out we’re not sitting on a bunch of staff,” Jason Huitt, director of networking and telecommunications at Colorado State University, said during that panel.

A vendor representative acknowledged that challenge, stating that it would need to be solved before other systems can be implemented.

“To bring in a new technology and expect an IT manager to all of a sudden adapt to … all of the core services, we’re going to need to extract that and we’re going to need to find a way to make those systems work in a system that they are using with their wired and WiFi management today,” Dave Wright, head of global wireless policy at Aruba, added.