Aura Wireless Apogee Converge Powers Private 5G Testbed at Paso Robles Municipal Airport

Single-Node Converged Wi-Fi + CBRS Deployment Delivers Full Ramp Coverage for Aerial Firefighting Operations and Future Spaceport Infrastructure

ST. PETERSBURG, FL, UNITED STATES, June 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Aura Wireless, maker of the patented Apogee™ family of high-performance wireless antennas, today announced that its Apogee Converge – a converged Wi-Fi + CBRS antenna has been deployed as part of a Private 5G testbed at Paso Robles Municipal Airport in collaboration with Cal Poly Noyce Advanced Wireless Lab and lead integrator, Heddian.

The live testbed marks a significant milestone in delivering mission-critical wireless infrastructure to Paso Robles Airport, a 1300-acre facility that serves as home to many critical aviation operations in San Luis Obispo County, including Cal Fire’s Paso Robles Air Attack Base, California Highway Patrol Coastal Air Operations, and nearly 50,000 private aircraft operations per year. In addition to the existing general aviation operations, the city is actively pursuing an FAA commercial spaceport license in partnership with Cal Poly as part of the Paso Robles Space Innovation and Technology Park.

“The 5G network enables us to extend reliable internet service to areas of the airport that were previously unconnected due to the prohibitive cost of installing traditional infrastructure. The system provides a cost-effective solution that meets the evolving needs of both the airport and its customers,” said Mark Scandalis, Airport Manager for the Paso Robles Airport. The Apogee Converge provided full ramp coverage from a single node - combining converged Wi-Fi and CBRS with Aura Wireless’s patented Asymmetric Gain™ technology and four programmable sectors. That is the Science of Scale™ applied to an environment where connectivity cannot fail: active flight lines, aerial tankers on the ramp, and real-time data demands that legacy infrastructure and fringe carrier signals were never designed to meet.

“Paso Robles Municipal Airport provided the ideal real-world environment to validate how private 5G wireless can support critical aviation and municipal operations. Apogee Converge delivered resilient, high-performance wireless coverage in environments where connectivity is mission-critical. Supporting aerial firefighting operations today while enabling the infrastructure foundation for future spaceport initiatives is a powerful example of how private wireless can modernize essential public infrastructure,” said Bill Britton, retired Cal Poly University Chair and current Paso Robles Airport Commission Chairman.

Deployment Details and Use Cases Under Validation

The Private 5G testbed is now live and actively collecting data across a range of high-value use cases that reflect both the airport’s current operational needs and its long-term infrastructure strategy:
• Perimeter security monitoring
• Aircraft data offloading
• Hangar tenant wireless services
• Enhanced connectivity for Cal Fire flight operations

The testbed also shapes a broader private wireless strategy across the City of Paso Robles - a model for how mid-size municipalities can modernize critical operations on their own terms.

“Aerial firefighting runs on data - flight telemetry, crew coordination, maintenance logs, real-time fire behavior feeds,” said Elaine Healy, Co-Founder and CEO, Aura Wireless. “The connectivity infrastructure an airport needs to support wildfire operations today is the same foundation it will need for commercial spaceport activity tomorrow. Apogee Converge was built for exactly this kind of environment: expansive, high throughput, with no tolerance for dead zones. We’re proud to be part of a deployment that performs under real-world conditions, not lab conditions.”

Bridging the Classroom-to-Field Gap

Cal Poly engineering students shadowed the deployment end-to-end - from rooftop installs through live RF validation - gaining front-row exposure to how production-grade private wireless gets built for real stakeholders with real requirements. The Cal Poly Noyce Advanced Wireless Lab was designed specifically to close the experiential gap between the classroom and the field.

“This collaboration gave our students direct exposure to production-grade deployment practices while helping establish a scalable wireless blueprint for the airport and broader community,” said Jonathan Polly, Chief Technical Manager, Cal Poly 5G Innovation Lab.

About Aura Wireless
Aura Wireless is an innovator in antenna technology, focused on expanding the range and usability of Wi-Fi and CBRS bands for enterprise, municipal, industrial, and agricultural applications. Learn more at aurawireless.com.

For more information, visit aurawireless.com.

Jason Claybrook
Aura Wireless
jclaybrook@aurawireless.com
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