Athonet, a global leader in private network technology, announced the opening of its Fintech 5G lab in the heart of London’s financial district to help banks, financial institutions, hedge funds and their technology partners discover, develop and integrate highly secure 5G technology into their business, operations and products.

“Financial institutions want to transition and evolve the way they do business to incorporate wireless technology but are facing increased security threats,” said Nanda Menon, chief executive officer, Athonet U.K. “As the world moves from wireless first to wireless only, private 5G with its SIM-based security can provide better security than traditional wireless LAN solutions while also embracing new opportunities. In the Athonet 5G lab, we can show financial institutions how to enjoy wireless freedom with the security and performance they expect.”

With 5G, trading floors and teams can embrace low-latency wireless technology with secure SIM-based authentication, transform workflows and customer engagement through AR and VR, enhance operational security and resilience and work remotely and reliably with secure private 5G networks delivered over SD-WAN and SASE. Wireless point-of-sale (POS) transactions can also be made more securely over the private 5G network.

Athonet, through its partners, is also offering a 5G kit, SecuriCell, for fintech companies to test the security and performance of the Athonet 5G core. SecuriCell includes all the components needed to deploy a secure private 5G cellular network including a 5G core, SIM cards, 5G smartphone, server, radio/cell, antenna and 5G CPE shipped in a rugged case. The kit also comes with VoNR support, a 36-month license, professional services, maintenance and software upgrade.

The kit is available through Athonet approved partners who have been selected to deliver a best-of-breed private network using Athonet’s open architecture. Athonet partners supporting the 5G Fintech lab are Cellnex, Clarus Networks Group, COLT, Freshwave, Tata Communications Transformation Services, and Wireless Infrastructure Group.