thinkRF, a leading provider of mmWave solutions, offers a spectrum monitoring program that uses its Spectrum eXperience Management (SXM) nodes to monitor infrastructure and technologies used by operators and helps prevent spectrum squatting.
As a limited resource that is critical to a community’s economic and social well-being, the cellular RF spectrum is carefully regulated by national licensing authorities. Spectrum squatting or fallow spectrum are the terms used when a licensee does not use its assigned spectrum. This tends to be all too common in rural and economically disadvantaged regions worldwide, perpetuating the digital divide. Holding licensees to account has historically been difficult due to the challenges associated with continuous and pervasive spectrum monitoring.
Actionable Monitoring of the Spectrum Environment
thinkRF positioned one of its SXM nodes in Cochrane, Alberta, a satellite community just outside of Calgary, Canada’s fourth largest city. Together with several other nodes positioned in the region, a spectrum monitoring program was put in place continuously characterizing what infrastructure had been deployed by which operators and using what technologies. It quickly became clear that one carrier, Shaw, was using none of their 55 MHz of licensed spectrum, empirically confirming that residents of this area of Alberta are significantly underserved by one of the main four operators in that region, and further that the operator is not meeting commitments it made to the Canadian public when it licensed that spectrum.
Continuous monitoring in this location by thinkRF will identify when this situation changes, and whether the community in Cochrane is benefiting from emerging 5G deployments.
Using a distributed network of powerful SXM nodes, combined with a cloud to store data with maximum cybersecurity and advanced analytics, SXM characterizes, optimizes and maximizes RF spectrum assets. SXM insights are delivered to your desktop, empowering you to eliminate threats and seize opportunities.
Click here to learn more about the Spectrum eXperience Management (SXM) solution offered by thinkRF.
