Ruckus Networks (now a CommScope subsidiary) has announced the availability of its U.S. Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) LTE portfolio. Consisting of CBRS-band LTE access points (APs) and associated cloud services, the new portfolio enables organizations to easily deploy private LTE networks to address a wide range of critical use cases that are poorly served by existing connectivity alternatives.
To facilitate IT-led initiatives, a Ruckus private LTE network can be deployed as easily as Wi-Fi - in a matter of hours or days—and managed from the cloud. The newly available infrastructure operates in the U.S. CBRS band (3550 – 3700 MHz), which is expected to be made available by the FCC for commercial use in the third quarter of 2019.
The FCC CBRS spectrum is allocated using a novel sharing model that allows any organization to easily access and use spectrum in a local area, at nominal cost. With this dedicated local spectrum, organizations of all types can make use of LTE, which delivers higher network reliability, security, range, quality-of-service (QoS), and mobility than can be achieved in unlicensed spectrum.
Ruckus is a founding member of the CBRS Alliance and Ruckus’ LTE APs are the industry’s first FCC-certified CBRS-band LTE APs. The company’s equipment has been deployed in nearly 50 trials across a wide variety of enterprise verticals as well as with mobile network operators (MNOs), multiple system operators (MSOs), mobile virtual network operator (MVNOs) and neutral-host operators.
For MNOs, the CBRS LTE portfolio provides a means of augmenting over-taxed cellular networks. For MSOs with a mobile offering, the Ruckus portfolio provides a means of reducing MVNO expense. For neutral host operators, the portfolio provides a new tool to enable operator-neutral in-building coverage, a use case that is expected to grow dramatically in popularity as CBRS-capable smartphones penetrate the mainstream subscriber base.
According to Kyung Mun, principal analyst, Mobile Experts, the market needs cloud-based, easy-to-deploy CBRS solutions to enable the growing opportunities of private LTE networks in the mobile, cable and enterprise segments. LTE solutions similar to Ruckus’ (that are simple to deploy like Wi-Fi) will help drive rapid adoption of private LTE networks across numerous market segments. Mobile Experts has forecasted that nearly one million CBRS small cells will be shipped by 2023.
Private LTE for Business-Critical Use Cases
Once the FCC finalizes commercial CBRS spectrum availability, organizations across a wide variety of verticals will, for the first time, be able deploy their own private LTE networks. These private LTE networks will enable these organizations to address challenging, critical use cases that only a dedicated, secure, ultra-high-quality network can reliably support. Critical use cases include:
- Secure, wide-area, high-definition video surveillance
- Critical communications for security and operations teams
- Remote vehicle and equipment control
- Automated guided vehicle (AGV) connectivity
- Mobile point-of-sale (POS) and mobile kiosk connectivity
- Mobile high-volume data transfer for imagery, video, diagnostics
- Mobile connectivity for utility, public safety and passenger transfer vehicles
- Low-latency connectivity for industrial automation (Industry 4.0)
These and other use cases are applicable to a wide variety of industries and environments including: airports, hospitals, hotels, manufacturing, municipalities, ports, rail yards, public venues and stadiums, and schools and universities. To support private LTE implementations, organizations can draw upon a rapidly growing ecosystem of CBRS-capable devices and endpoints.
Additionally, the Ruckus CBRS LTE portfolio provides tools for MNO, MVNO, MSO and neutral-host operators to address coverage issues in buildings of all sizes as CBRS-capable devices, such as handsets, smartphones and other LTE-connected devices, become widely adopted.
Ruckus CBRS LTE Portfolio:
- Ruckus Q710 - a 3.5 GHz indoor LTE AP that covers approximately 10,000 square feet
- Ruckus Q410 - a 3.5 GHz indoor LTE AP that plugs into Ruckus Wi-Fi APs
- Ruckus Q910 - a 3.5 GHz outdoor LTE AP that covers approximately the area within a 660-foot city block
- LTE AP Management Service - a cloud service that enables simple, cloud-based management of the LTE APs
- Private-LTE Network Services - a cloud service that provides all the necessary network functionality to enable organizations to deploy their own LTE networks
Organizations seeking to deploy private LTE should choose the appropriate LTE APs to address their coverage and capacity requirements and subscribe to the LTE AP Management Service and Private-LTE Network Services, each on a per-AP basis. Operators and other large organizations with their own LTE core network may choose to deploy only LTE APs and the LTE AP Management Service.
All CBRS LTE products and services are available from qualified Ruckus channel partners that participate in the Ruckus CBRS Specialization Program.
