New York's utility to test private LTE network with several vendors
The New York Power Authority (NYPA), the largest state-owned power utility in the US, is about to begin testing a massive private LTE network that it hopes to use for applications ranging from energy metering to flying inspection drones."NYPA is looking to build a 3GPP standards-based private LTE network to support its efforts to help modernize the electric grid in New York State. This secure and reliable network will support NYPA's efforts to enhance its operational and programmatic capabilities and leverage the benefits of evolving innovation in wireless equipment," the agency wrote in a filing with the FCC requesting permission to begin testing the network. Listed in the NYPA's application is a wide range of testing devices, including basestations and antennas from the likes of Nokia, Ericsson and Air-Lynx, as well as routers from Encore Networks, tablets from Samsung and phones from Cat and Sonim.
The proposed wireless network will sit on top of a $153 million, 700-mile fiber network the NYPA is building across New York in a project scheduled to be finished in 2021. "This fiber infrastructure will provide the overall backhaul for the P‐LTE [private LTE] project," the agency noted.
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