On Tuesday, Swedish telecom hardware giant Ericsson announced that it is partnering with Anterix, the largest holder of licensed and contiguous 900MHz spectrum in the United States, to bring private network operational models to the public utilities market.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently certified the Ericsson Radio 2212/2012 in this spectrum, which will complement Ericsson’s existing utility service with Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CRBS), as utilities increasingly look to private cellular networks to build more reliable, secure, and flexible digital infrastructures to accommodate current and future mission-critical use cases. The radios will operate in 4G/LTE with the ability, which Ericsson says will enable seamless, eventual transition to 5G.
“The modernization of critical infrastructure will be key as utilities look to digitize operations to address a new distributed energy reality, while staying ahead of cyberthreats and other potential disruptions,” said Anterix Chief Operating Officer Ryan Gerbrandt. “Private networks utilizing 900MHz and empowered by leading technology companies like Ericsson, can provide utilities with the tools to help them achieve these goals.”
Ericsson has commercially deployed, operated, and trialed secure mission-critical network solutions with both Investor Owned Utilities (IOUs) and rural Municipal utilities across North America, including Southern Company, Consolidated Edison Company, and Newport Utilities.
“We see private cellular networks as the principal catalyst for utilities in their digital transformation journey to address a multitude of use cases, both now and in the future,” said Koustuv Ghoshal, Vice President and Head of Utilities, Energy & Industrials at Ericsson North America. “It provides an opportunity to not only own and operate an asset that conforms to global 3GPP standards and universally benefits all business segments within utilities, but also addresses mission-critical needs of safety, security, resiliency and flexibility. Having delivered commercial Private-LTE network infrastructure at both large and small utilities in North America, we look forward to partnering with utilities on their grid modernization journey.”
Ericsson notes that it has a long track record of developing multi-technology solutions that are ready to move from 4G to 5G without network disruptions.
Motorola
Last month, Anterix announced a similar agreement with U.S. telecom equipment maker Motorola Solutions to deploy private LTE networks by utility companies as part of the sector’s efforts to modernize the electric grid. The partnership builds upon a January announcement that Anterix and Motorola would be supporting listed utility Xcel Energy in evaluating a private LTE solution at two Xcel sites in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Last year, Motorola unveiled its own Private Broadband for Critical Infrastructure platform.
