Private 5G specialist Celona has announced the launch and immediate availability of AerFlex, what it calls the industry’s first cloud-controlled, access point (AP)-only private 5G service.
The firm noted that as artificial intelligence (AI)-driven operations gain momentum across industrial sectors, the demand for reliable, high-performance wireless connectivity is accelerating. It said private 5G was rapidly emerging as the preferred service in environments such as refineries, manufacturing plants, warehouses and mining operations – where traditional Wi-Fi often falls short.
Purpose-built to simplify and accelerate enterprise adoption, and claimed to have a “breakthrough” architecture and cloud-native design, Celona regards AerFlex as “the ideal foundation” for industrial AI, able to eliminate the need for on-site servers and complex integrations, making it, said Celona, “dramatically” easier and more cost-effective to deploy high-performance, secure wireless networks.
With what are described as key features including simplicity, speed and security in a fully integrated platform, Celona sees AerFlex as setting a new standard for enterprise connectivity – enabling faster deployments, lower total cost of ownership and unmatched operational agility.
The result is, the product’s owner believes, enterprises of all sizes using private 5G to unlock the full potential of industrial intelligence – empowering advanced automation, real-time decision-making and emerging physical AI use cases.
Celona said that unlike legacy telco services that retrofit complex infrastructure for enterprise use – or fragmented small-cell systems that require multi-supplier integration – Celona AerFlex introduces a fundamentally different approach.
By splitting network functions between Celona access points and the cloud, and using what is said to be the industry’s only unified private 5G operating system, AerFlex is attributed with being able to deliver “seamless” integration across radio, core and AI-powered management. Moreover, AerFlex is also claimed to enable rapid, cost-effective roll-outs often in hours, not weeks.
Commenting on the market differentiators and capability on the new product, aid Pablo Tomasi, principal analyst at Omdia said: “As enterprises accelerate industrial AI at the edge, they need private 5G solutions that combine simplicity, agility, and control. Celona AerFlex stands out with its AP-only model and cloud-native architecture – eliminating traditional deployment complexity while delivering secure, low-latency performance. Its integrated design uniquely positions it to meet the strategic demands of modern enterprise networks.”
Rajeev Shah, CEO and co-founder of Celona, said: “Celona AerFlex marks a major leap forward in making private 5G truly accessible and operationally efficient for enterprises of all sizes.
“By combining innovation with radical simplicity, we’re removing the traditional barriers to private 5G adoption – enabling more organisations to harness its performance, reliability and security at a time when AI is transforming every industry.”
Celona already has a beta customer for AerFlex in the form of Cargill, a global leader in food, agriculture, financial and industrial products, and services. The company’s stated mission is to “source, make and deliver goods that are vital for living”.
It sells food products and ingredients, agricultural services and bio-based industrial products to manufacturers, farmers and ranchers, food service customers, retailers, and consumers. Boasting 160 years of experience, Cargill has approximately 160,000 employees worldwide operating in 70 countries.