Granite and Nextivity Form Strategic Partnership for Managed In-building Cellular Coverage
QUINCY, Mass., & LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Granite Telecommunications, LLC, a $1.5 billion provider of communications services to multilocation businesses and government agencies, today announced a strategic partnership with Nextivity Inc., makers of the Cel-Fi line of solutions for improving in-building cellular coverage. Under the terms of the agreement, Granite’s Network Integration Group will deploy, monitor and manage Cel-Fi solutions for both its own large and medium enterprise clients and on behalf of the leading U.S. mobile operators that have authorized Nextivity’s in-building solutions for use on their networks. The partnership was announced today at Mobile World Congress Americas, which is being held October 22-24 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.
“With the drive to cloud-based applications and communications, the need for reliable cellular coverage has never been more critical for businesses and governmental agencies to run smoothly and deliver a seamless customer experience,” said Granite COO Rand Currier. “Partnering with Nextivity enables Granite to provide cellular coverage as a service to our enterprise customers as well as to other providers’ customers on a wholesale basis.”
“Our partnership with Granite will allow us to reach a much broader audience,” said Werner Sievers, CEO of Nextivity. “In particular, the middleprise segment of the market has been largely ignored, and has had to make do with cellular coverage solutions designed for either large enterprise applications or residential purposes in mind. The combination of our solutions and Granite’s extensive presence with enterprises of all sizes gives more businesses access to a solution tailored specifically for them.”
Granite leverages its nationwide technical field force to deploy solutions across the Cel-Fi product line, such as Cel-Fi QUATRA, a hybrid active distributed antenna system (DAS) that solves in-building cellar coverage issues for the middleprise (i.e., spaces under 500,000 sq. ft.). Granite’s technicians will perform site surveys and installation.
Once Cel-Fi systems have been deployed, engineers in Granite’s 24/7 Network Operations Center (NOC) will use the Cel-Fi WAVE software platform to monitor and manage Cel-Fi systems for reliability and quality of service (QoS). If required, Granite technicians also will perform hardware repairs, upgrades, or replacements.
Granite’s partnership with Nextivity enables Granite Mobility Solutions to leverage its wholesale agreements with leading wireless carriers to better serve the needs of multilocation enterprises across geographies and vertical markets, such as:
- Retail – Reliable connectivity is required for buyers to access in-store mobile apps with coupons, or for associates to use mobile devices for point-of-sale (PoS) purchases. Plus, wireless connectivity can be used as a failover if wireline connections to the PoS go down, so the cash register continues to ring.
- Education – Teachers and students on campuses and in classrooms require reliable cellular coverage for first responders in support of the Department of Homeland Security’s national “If You See Something, Say Something®” campaign designed to keep schools and universities safe.
- Health Care – Doctors and nurses rely on cellular services to connect IoT devices that track mobile equipment, monitor patient vital signs, and manage critical facilities, such as lights and air conditioning, that are key to continuity of care.
- Enterprise – Mobile workforces outfitted with company devices or enabled to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) are only as productive as the cellular connections they use to reach co-workers, applications, and data. Multifactor authentication using a mobile device also makes cellular service critical for secure access to applications like Salesforce when workers are in the office.
To learn more visit Granite and Nextivity at Booth #2486 in Hall South at Mobile World Congress Americas.
About Nextivity Inc.
Headquartered in San Diego, Nextivity Inc. develops the award-winning Cel-Fi family of products that deliver best-in-class in-building and mobile cellular coverage for spaces up to 500,000 sq. ft., and for environments where harsh conditions require a rugged design. Cel-Fi is the go-to solution for settings such as healthcare facilities, office buildings, remote sites, parking garages, hotels, warehouse and industrial venues, government offices, retailers, schools, as well as trucking and marine fleets. Cel-Fi products are available in more than 90 countries through mobile operators and a growing worldwide network of master distributors, systems integrators, installers, and resellers. Additional information is available at cel-fi.com, on Twitter, LinkedIn and on Facebook.
About Granite
Granite delivers one-stop communications solutions to multilocation businesses and government agencies throughout the United States and Canada. The $1.5 billion company serves more than two-thirds of the Fortune 100 companies in the United States and has 1.75 million voice and data lines under management. Granite launched in 2002 and grew quickly by helping businesses to simplify sourcing and management of local and long distance phone services with one point of contact and one invoice for all their office locations nationwide. Today, Granite is the leader in aggregating Plain Old Telephone Services (POTS), and has extended its unique value proposition – “one company, one contact, one bill” – to include a range of advance business communications services, including Internet access, SD-WAN, wireless WAN, hosted PBX, SIP trunking, mobile voice and data, mobile device management, managed security, network integration and much more. Granite employs more than 2,200 people at its headquarters in Quincy, Mass., and nine regional offices nationwide. For more information, visit www.granitenet.com.