Networking heavyweight Corning today announced a partnership with Intel aimed at helping network operators and enterprises deploy in-building 5G connectivity.

While the big four service providers scramble to build out their public-facing 5G networks, Corning is instead working with Intel to bring the technology’s advancements — high-bandwidth and low-latency connectivity — inside. Corning is targeting venues ranging in size from massive stadium arenas to large enterprises where employees can bring their own device.

Corning is building the technology around Intel's Xeon Scalable processors, FPGA programmable acceleration cards, 700 series Ethernet adapters, and perhaps most importantly, its FlexRAN 4G and 5G reference software.

“5G will enable dramatic advances in the way people work and companies create value,” said Michelle Engarto, VP of Corning’s wireless product line management team, in a statement.

In-building connectivity is nothing new, however it hasn't seen widespread adoption in comparison to public WiFi. But Corning says that will change with 5G. Engarto anticipates in-building 5G will see much wider adoption as compared to private LTE, especially in latency-sensitive applications.

See said some of the biggest implementations of the technology will likely come from the manufacturing and medical industries where professionals will require extremely reliable, high-bandwidth connections.

“We’ve got thousands of customers who are concerned about upgrading to 5G,” she said.

Corning’s partnership with Intel plays on this demand. However, Engarto acknowledges that much of the technology — including consumer devices and IoT implementations — required to take advantage of 5G's strengths is only just now hitting the market. She describes it as a “build it and they will come” kind of situation. In-building cellular tech used to be something nice to have, but the world has changed, she said.

According to Cristina Rodriquez, VP and general manager of Intel’s Wireless Access Networks Division, the collaboration with Corning will help ensure the 5G revolution does not stop at the building door, thus enabling customers to take advantage of the technology's low latency, high bandwidth, and IoT potential.

Corning’s new in-building 5G technology still under development is scheduled to hit the market in 2020.