The Decrease Colorado River Authority (LCRA) has taken a licence with specialist US personal community supplier Anterix to make use of the native 900 MHz band for personal LTE throughout its service areas in Texas. The settlement builds on its buy of 900 MHz licenses from Anterix in April 2023, and can see the non-profit public utility increase its personal LTE protection to a different 34 counties within the state; its community already covers 68 with the earlier Anterix licences.
LCRA, answerable for 5,000 circuit miles of transmission strains, is likely one of the largest suppliers of electrical energy in Texas, supplying energy to greater than 30 retail electrical cooperatives and municipalities. It additionally manages the decrease 600 miles of the Texas Colorado River, offering water to round 1.4 million individuals, and operates greater than 40 native public parks in Texas. Its personal LTE community is geared to supply IoT asset and system monitoring and operational intelligence to drive grid resilience.
It additionally may even present mobile broadband comms to staff, in addition to to exterior customers of its community, together with electrical cooperatives, colleges, and transit authorities. New Jersey based mostly Anterix holds 900 MHz spectrum within the mainland US, in addition to in Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. Its objective is to license 900 MHz spectrum and provide 900 MHz options to the utility sector to drive grid modernisation. It counts Ameren, Evergy, San Diego Fuel & Electrical, and Xcel Power amongst its power and utility clients utilizing its 900 MHz spectrum band within the US.
Stephen Kellicker, govt vice chairman for enterprise sources at LCRA, mentioned: “The 900 MHz personal LTE resolution performs an necessary position in supporting LCRA’s mission. Since LCRA’s relationship with Anterix started, we’ve continued to determine further methods to serve Texans utilizing LTE. LCRA’s personal broadband community deployment is a big component to assist deal with our trade’s challenges and assist help the individuals and organizations in our service territory.”
Scott Lang, president and chief govt at Anterix, mentioned: “At the moment’s follow-on settlement between Anterix and LCRA testifies to the ability of the partnerships that the 900 MHz personal community revolution has constructed throughout the utility sector. As the primary crucial infrastructure operator to increase its 900 MHz wi-fi broadband community, LCRA welcomes the ability of personal LTE connectivity to rework its operations and assist guarantee a resilient power future for its clients and communities. This transaction additionally highlights the rising scale and affect of 900 MHz personal wi-fi networks for supporting the utility sector’s journey towards a extra dependable and safe power future.”
He added: “The progress of this journey is especially obvious in Texas, as LCRA’s second spectrum transaction with Anterix signifies that, along with our different Texas utility companions, 93 p.c of Texas counties shall be served by 900 MHz personal wi-fi broadband networks. Because of its rising potential to harness cross-sector utility use circumstances like mutual help and storm response, we imagine that Texas might turn out to be a mannequin for different areas of the nation to see extra capabilities of 900 MHz utility personal LTE in motion.”
