While networking vendors, like Nokia, Ericsson, and Huawei scramble to roll out 5G hardware, Corning is focused on bringing the benefits of high-speed, low-latency cellular inside the building.

The company today announced a partnership with Qualcomm to develop 5G millimeter-wave (mmWave) infrastructure for enterprises and public venues.

Michelle Engarto, VP of Corning’s wireless product line management team, said Corning's goal is to develop an affordable, easy to install, and scalable in-building 5G product. While the national carriers are blasting out their latest 5G deployments, she said Corning is asking the next natural question: "Is 5G going to stop at the door of buildings?"

This is because the mmWave technology responsible for the massive leap in speeds over 4G LTE has an even harder time getting through concrete and other building material. "If you want to have 5G indoors you're going to need to have a cellular solution to do that reliably," Engarto said.

Corning has a breadth of experience with in-building 4G LTE and has successfully deployed its small-cell platform in venues ranging in size from stadiums to small enterprise. Now the company is looking to add 5G to its offerings.

Under the partnership, Corning will utilize Qualcomm's FSM100x 5G radio access network (RAN) platform, to build out small, power-efficient mmWave hardware based on its virtualized RAN (vRAN) architecture, which it developed in collaboration with Intel last fall.

Corning says that by working with Qualcomm it will be possible to deliver features like concurrent beam forming and advanced scheduling to enterprise customers.

Engarto said the final product will eventually be marketed through wireless carriers, third-party operators, or directly to large enterprises.

Engarto says in-building cellular has numerous advantages, the most obvious of which is quality of service since enterprises aren't relying on an outdoor macro cell that may be affected by the building's construction. She also outlined several operational advantages including reduced networking costs and complexity.

Corning deployed in-building 4G LTE when it built its new headquarters in Charlotte, North Carolina, rather than trying to network the entire building. "It was a remarkable cost savings," Engarto said.

And these cost savings make in-building cellular attractive for enterprises with new construction already underway. Engarto said the company expects to begin installing a "robust number of indoor deployments within the next year."