Airwaive

Airwaive is an online marketplace connecting wireless service providers to property owners, in order to develop small cell networks. This includes connecting wireless service providers with home and business owners operating wireless access points in their neighborhoods. The company's marketplace is intended to simplify the process of claiming, installing, and managing wireless hubs used as the access points for public and private networks.

Airwaive offers their marketplace to service providers working to build 5G mobile, fixed wireless, vehicle, or drone networks. Through the Airwaive marketplace, property owners can generate revenue for their land and services and help build access points for wireless networks.

The marketplace is intended to remove some of the barriers to developing 5G networks and ubiquitous network coverage. Founder and CEO of Airwaive, Jeff Yee, calls the model an "owner-operator" model with a platform similar to Airbnb, where a building owner or resident can deploy a small cell for a monthly compensation for hosting the small cell, which bypasses the traditional process of obtaining permits from a municipality and then working with property owners where the small cell needs to be installed. The traditional process is lengthy, particularly where there is a need to deploy small cells at scale, which Jeff Yee believes the company's solution can solve.

For network operators, the company's marketplace provides a chance to create a network of host-operated small cell radios to increase wireless access points. Network operators can include Mobile Network Operators, Multi-System Operators, Wireless Internet Service Providers, and for private networks such as those used by enterprises and governments. Airwaive suggests their host-operated radio model offers network operators faster time to market for network deployments, reduced capital costs of site acquisition, and reduced operational costs of cell management.

The platform offers the following features:

• Automated site acquisition
• The company's proprietary cell valuation model that works to balance cost and coverage
• An equipment configurator that works to verify that the small cell radio equipment being used has been certified for use in a market
• Policy manager services to define policies for terms and conditions and service level agreements
• A messaging platform for operators to message hosts, and vice-versa in the case of routine equipment maintenance
• A settlement system in order to ensure that hosts are compensated

For property owners, Airwaive offers the company's marketplace as a chance to host wireless access points on the property on behalf of network operators and earn a monthly income, while also benefitting from better wireless coverage. Possible hosts include home owners, business owners, utility companies, and local government; each of which has different assets that can host wireless access points and generate income.

To be considered as an eligible host, a host has to be approved by an operator and install small cell radios that serve as access points for wireless devices. Hosts have the option to work with multiple operators to increase income, with payment amounts dependent on location, radio usage, and type of equipment.

The type of equipment that can affect income include gateway cells and repeater cells. Gateway cells give hosts a chance to earn more money than a repeater but require that the owner has access to gigabit-speed wired internet. While repeater cells earn less money than gateways but are simple to set up and do not require gigabit-speed wired connections.