The C-band signal booster is FCC-certified for immediate deployment, says SureCall

SureCall today announced the SpeedLink 5G, a new C-band signal booster that the company called a significant industry milestone. In addition to being FCC-certified for immediate deployment, it is also the only C-band booster approved by Verizon for use on their 5G Ultra Wideband network — the brand name for the carrier’s mmWave and C-band network.

“We have carefully engineered and thoroughly tested it for rapid deployment to extend the coverage footprint of a C-band base station within hours without the need for fiber backhaul,” said Hongtao Zhan, CEO and founder of SureCall. “As an Authorized Verizon 5G Signal Booster Vendor, we worked closely with Verizon to ensure that the new SpeedLink exceeded all technical standards the carrier required for its network.”

Zhan spoke to RCR Wireless News about the important role that signal boosters are playing in telecom networks, despite being such a relatively nascent market. “Millions of signal boosters have been installed throughout the United States over the last 10 years,” he shared. “Millions of Americans are being served by boosters — in the car, in their homes, in offices, schools, hospitals, you name it, they’re everywhere.”

And Zhan is confident that the signal booster industry is “just warming up.” In the next decade or two, he said, the worldwide cellular network will be largely composed of boosters. “This is what’s happening; there’s no alternative,” he added.

Two years ago, SureCall claimed record speeds with its 5G mmWave booster on Verizon’s network. After activating SureCall’s Horizon network signal booster and measuring from multiple distances from the 5G mmWave base station, speed and signal strength improved significantly, the company said. At a total distance of 100 meters from the Horizon network booster — in an area where there was no signal — SureCall’s booster provided speeds of nearly 3 Gbps.

Now, though, the company is tackling the midband with its latest solution. C-band can transmit faster data and connect more simultaneous users with 5G base stations; however, indoor coverage remains an issue, mostly due to poor penetration as result of modern building materials. “Show me one commercial building in the United States that has perfect C-band coverage inside,” challenged Zhan. “I haven’t seen one.”

The SpeedLink booster can extend 5G C-band signals inside large buildings to fill coverage gaps, increase network capacity and deliver data speeds up to 1 Gbps without fiber, SureCall stated, adding that its MIMO or SISO compatibility enables a flexible design that allows it to be deploy quickly and economically inside various types of buildings.

“This is a disruptive technology; it’s not a conventional, linear-thinking technology. It’s always about a base station — big base station, small base station, medium base station. Femtocell is a small base station if you have home coverage problems. If you have enterprise problems, small cells are used. But that line of thinking is wrong,” said Zhan. “Now, you have this disruptive technology that is approved by the FCC, approved by carriers. It’s still in its infancy, but it’s going to take over inside and outside.”

SpeedLink 5G is available for purchase and immediate deployment from SureCall’s distribution partners including Tessco and Graybar.