Cradlepoint,†the global leader in cloud-delivered LTE and 5G Ready wireless network edge solutions, has announced it is the first provider of Gigabit-Class Private LTE edge router solutions, referred to as User Equipment (UE), to achieve FCC Certification and Initial Commercial Deployment (ICD) status. Part of Cradlepoint’s†Pathway to 5G†strategy, the new Private LTE solutions are based on the company’s NetCloud service and recently introduced Gigabit LTE edge routers, which support Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) shared spectrum at 3.5 GHz.
Under the ICD program, Cradlepoint will collaborate with tried-and-tested CBRS infrastructure partners and system integrators to provide customers with Private LTE proof-of-concept (PoC) networks. This CBRS ecosystem includes vendors of Citizen Band Radio Service Devices (CBSDs), also called LTE access points or LTE small cells, Enhanced Packet Cores (EPCs) and Spectrum Access Systems (SASs) infrastructure. The company expects candidates for the ICD program to include seaports, airports and railways, large distribution centers, major cities and other organizations that require an enhanced wide-area LAN environment.
Cradlepoint has been conducting Private LTE field trials since the fall of 2017 under various experimental FCC licenses. Earlier this year, the company joined the CBRS Alliance, and, with this announcement, is the first LTE UE router solution to be listed on its website that tracks FCC-authorized equipment for CBRS Band 48.
“Advancements in LTE technology along the Pathway to 5G and new federal regulations that open up under-utilized spectrum for sharing are a real catalyst to the Private LTE market,” said Ken Hosac, vice president of IoT strategy, Cradlepoint. “Together with our ecosystem partners and integrators, Cradlepoint is the first to offer an Initial Customer Deployment program to serve a growing list of customers looking to evaluate the enhanced coverage, security and reliability of Private LTE with CBRS to augment or replace existing wireless LAN environments.”
As connected devices continue to proliferate, Private LTE is poised to address the emerging whitespace within today’s WAN and LAN infrastructures—wide-area LAN connectivity. Private LTE can span greater distances, provide better traffic management and security characteristics, and offer more economical connection density than today’s wireless LAN infrastructures. From a public LTE perspective, Private LTE can provide better coverage, especially in buildings, and delivers the security and control of a closed network along with dedicated bandwidth. These attributes make Private LTE ideal for reliable and secure communications for site personnel, vehicles and IoT devices—such as video surveillance cameras—in highly-distributed and connection-dense locations, including shipyards, airports, large factories or industrial plants, or distribution centers.
“The market opportunity for Private LTE is rapidly emerging due to software-defined cellular infrastructure, the availability of unlicensed and shared spectrum, and the evolution of LTE technology on the pathway to 5G,” said Alex Glaser, vice president at Harbor Research. “There has been an inflection of interest from Enterprise and public sector organizations that want to pilot Private LTE utilizing CBRS spectrum for a number of higher bandwidth and density IoT use cases, but the missing link has been CBRS-ready user equipment. Cradlepoint has solved this missing link with an enhancement of its NetCloud service that includes CBRS-capable edge routers for branch, mobile, and IoT networks.”
Private LTE Solutions and Availability
Cradlepoint offers Private LTE capable solutions for both enterprise and public sector markets. Any Cradlepoint NetCloud service plan for branch, mobile or IoT that is paired with a Gigabit-Class LTE edge router, such as the AER2200 or IBR1700, can support Private LTE over CBRS Band 48.
