Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab
“5G is a brand new opportunity for us to really look at different ways to deliver data across campus. Wi-Fi just doesn’t go far enough”. – Bill Briton CIO
About Us
The Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab is leading a campus-wide transformation in how students, faculty, and researchers connect, collaborate, and create. Born from Cal Poly’s “Learn by Doing” philosophy and powered by partnerships with Amazon Web Services (AWS), Federated Wireless, T-Mobile, and Kajeet, the lab is not just building a better network — it’s building the foundation for the digital university of the future.
Leveraging private 5G and LTE networks built on CBRS shared spectrum, edge computing, and cloud infrastructure, the lab is deploying real-world wireless solutions to solve pressing challenges in education, agriculture, energy, construction, and more — both on campus and in remote learning environments like Poly Canyon and Swanton Pacific Ranch.
Whether supporting a Digital Twin of the campus, enabling autonomous farming, or making 5G accessible to students on their personal phones through neutral host technology, the lab is making connectivity more intelligent, secure, inclusive, and scalable than ever before.
Private, Not Just Public: Our 5G network is university-owned and designed for educational use cases — not just consumer traffic.
Built with Purpose: Every deployment serves a research mission, learning environment, or underserved location.
Open to Everyone: Through neutral host integration, students connect with their own carriers — no campus SIM required.
Field-Tested, Real-World Ready: From drone-enabled data capture at Swanton Ranch to hands-on prototyping in the Frost Center, the network is a living laboratory.
Impact on Learn by Doing and Beyond
Cal Poly’s vision is to become a fully connected university — where every facility, outdoor zone, and remote site is part of a seamless, intelligent network. Our long-term strategy includes:
Reducing reliance on legacy Wi-Fi infrastructure
Deploying intelligent handover networks in new buildings
Offering affordable student mobile data plans
Sharing the model with other CSU campuses and public institutions
Vision: A 5G Campus
At Cal Poly, students don’t just study next-generation technology — they help build it. The 5G Innovation Lab is a living, breathing extension of our “Learn by Doing” philosophy, giving students and faculty across disciplines the opportunity to work directly with real-world wireless infrastructure, solve complex problems, and collaborate with industry leaders
Higher Education
Cal Poly students consume 20 times more data today than when the Cal Poly Wi-Fi network was originally built. The Cal Poly private 5G network will deliver seamless connectivity and streamlined operations throughout campus, inside and out, that meets the demands of a growing campus community.
Construction
Enhanced wireless connectivity allows for machine-to-machine communication for operational efficiency and maintenance prediction in construction equipment and building systems, like HVAC, lighting, and utilities. It also transforms traditional blueprint design into a three-dimensional process.
Agriculture
5G provides the connectivity needed to make smart farming a reality, previously impossible in rural areas. It opens the door to autonomous guided, smart soil management systems, crop health monitoring, and seasonal analytics.
Energy
Along with improved remote monitoring and analytics of wind turbines and natural gas pipelines, private wireless connectivity enables enhanced worker safety with live-streaming through body-worn cameras, man-down alarms, and push-to-talk technology.
Benefits of 5G
- Connectivity
- 100x faster download speeds
- 10x decrease in latency
- Security
- Standardized systems with authentication and encryption
- Sensitive data stays within private security perimeter
- Independence
- Flexible network operations
- Does not rely solely on commercial carrier networks
- Capacity
- 100x system capacity
- Sustainability
- Reduces carbon footprint
- 5G projected to make a 20% contribution to U.S. climate change goals
- Inclusivity
- Makes the latest technology accessible to users who otherwise would not have access
- Efficiency
- Reduces cost
- Streamlines operations
Our Team
Partnership
This work is only made possible because of the support of our generous partners and friends. To learn more about on how you and/or your company can support and partner with the Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab, email Sajaa Altaleb at saltaleb@calpoly.edu.