Utilities Need More Wireless Broadband: Alliance
Representatives of the Utility Broadband Alliance met with FCC Wireless Bureau staff about its members' need for data and the important role played by private networks, according to a filing posted Thursday in docket 24-99. The group said it supports a proposal for a rulemaking authorizing 5/5 MHz broadband deployments in the 900 MHz band (see 2505190025). While the earlier establishment of a 3/3 MHz broadband segment in the band “has been a tremendous success, the amount of broadband spectrum currently available to utilities for private network operations is not sufficient to meet utilities’ current and future needs.”
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Utilities need “high levels of dedicated capacity to manage increasing amounts of data, high throughput speeds and low latency to enable real-time information from and control of the electric grid, comprehensive coverage of the utility’s entire geographic service area, security (both physical security and cybersecurity), and high levels of resiliency and reliability,” the alliance said.