California based Ondas Networks has won contracts to deploy private LTE networks for two major railroads in North America, the company has announced. It has refused to reveal the identity of the customers.
Ondas Networks, formerly called Full Spectrum, said it had fulfilled a purchase order from a Class 1 railroad for the deployment of its FullMAX software-defined radio (SDR) in 125 kHz of spectrum in the 900 MHz licensed frequency band. It has also deployed the final phase of a field trial with another Class 1 railroad, also using its FullMAX SDR platform in the 900 MHz frequency band.
Class 1 railroads, the largest revenue-generating railways in North America, are currently using communications networks that designed around specific applications implemented in single licensed frequency bands.
They want to upgrade their networks to meet growth in demand for capacity, along with the need for increased reliability and security. Ondas Networks’ FullMAX SDR solution enables them to deploy mission critical mobile and wayside applications over multiple frequency bands.
It means they can consolidate networks over a standardized platform, said Ondas Networks. The company’s SDR platform provides better reliability, throughput and latency, compared with existing network technologies.
Eric Brock, chief executive at Ondas Networks, said: “The Class 1 railroads we are now working with are excited about the opportunity to upgrade their network to a standards-based platform, one which optimizes their current bandwidth requirements and future-proofs their next generation networks.
“We expect the Class 1 railroads to engage with Ondas beyond the 900 MHz band in the coming months as we demonstrate the benefits of a single, flexible SDR architecture, capable of covering the entire spectrum of frequencies in which the Class 1 railroads operate.”
Ondas Networks also acquired its own spectrum in the 700 MHz band in the middle of 2019 to deploy private cellular networks for industrial users in the state of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, as well as certain coastal counties in Texas and Louisiana. Upper 700 MHz ‘A-block’ spectrum is considered ideal for utilities, critical infrastructure, IoT, M2M, and rail services.
The company is offering private wireless connectivity for mission-critical services in these regions, plus certain adjacent counties. The State of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico cover 900,000 square miles of surface area; Ondas Networks claims to have delivered private mobile and fixed wireless services in “large portions” – 700,000 people in 25,000 square miles of land – in record time.
