Private LTE collaboration continues to drive FAN Evolution for Utilities – Cisco Blogs
Challenged with changing environmental, consumer and regulatory conditions, utilities throughout the United States are looking for opportunities to continuously improve system efficiency, resiliency, and security. This grid modernization is increasingly dependent on a modernized communications platform. At Cisco, we have long been committed to providing utilities a multiservice field area network which supports a variety of technology and frequency options best suited to the unique needs of each utility. These include: WiSun Mesh, LTE, pLTE, WiFi, High Speed Ultra Reliable PTMP & LORA.
As we strive to deliver the best technical and business options for our energy clients, Cisco is thrilled to announce the powerful addition to our FAN ecosystem with the announcement of the collaboration between Cisco and Anterix.
About Anterix
As the largest holder of licensed spectrum in the 900 MHz band, Anterix can offer the long needed private spectrum that utilities have been demanding to build private secure and highly reliable utility radio networks. This Anterix frequency provides a well-balanced option that has both good physical radio propagation while offering broadband speed. These characteristics can support the required deployment density of full-scale grid digitization while minimizing private LTE infrastructure costs.
About Cisco
The wide array of Cisco Catalyst industrial routers supporting the Anterix frequency will enable utilities to deploy Cisco and Anterix for a variety of digital grid use cases including: Distribution Automation (DA) (i.e. VVO, FLISR, Transformer monitoring, etc.), AMI, T&D substation automation and mobile fleet use cases. With these use cases becoming digitized, cyber security is increasingly recognized as a foundational component to grid reliability. As we saw over the past decade with transmission substation, WAN private networks were being built out to reduce OpEx and provide a more secure and reliable communications platform, these same drivers exist as utilities explore the adoption of Private LTE FAN networks.
Utilities that build and deploy a private LTE network with Anterix frequency coupled with Cisco’s Catalyst solutions embedded with industrial grid security, deliver clear and immediate benefits by cost-effectively controlling access to critical utility assets, monitoring the info-sec of network and power systems end points, mitigating cyber threats, and protecting physical facilities. Further, with the Cisco multi-service FAN now including Anterix, utility operators can take advantage of the synergy between private and public LTE, WiSUN, WiFi, LoRaWAN, and wired networks while deploying them all in a unified secure architecture under a Cisco’s single operational management platform.
About the Partnership
Cisco understands the unique needs of its utility customers and has a strong history of building highly secure and large-scale networks for enterprises and industries. This Anterix-Cisco relationship will further expedite available private LTE solutions for energy providers in the United States that require highly secure, resilient, and utility-controlled LTE networks.
For more information please see the links below:
More about Anterix Cisco partnership
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