Ericsson, NRTC, Southern Linc to deliver connectivity for rural electric cooperatives across the U.S.

Ericsson is a member of the 450 MHz Alliance

Source of Press Release

Aug 06, 2024

This strategic partnership aims to provide reliable, resilient, and secure network infrastructure, empowering co-ops to meet the challenges of modernizing the grid infrastructure and ensuring uninterrupted service delivery to communities nationwide.

“Our collaboration with NRTC, Anterix, and Southern Linc underscores Ericsson’s dedication to advancing secure and resilient communications infrastructure for co-ops across North America,” said Eric Boudriau, Vice President and Head of Customer Unit Regional Customers, Ericsson North America. “We are proud to contribute our solutions to this initiative, ensuring that NRTC members have access to state-of-the-art technology that meets their evolving needs and maximizes their resources.”

NRTC will augment its existing fiber design and construction capabilities with Ericsson’s expertise in cellular and microwave communications technologies, Southern Linc’s core hosting solutions, and Anterix’s 900 MHz spectrum as well as their 115+ member Active Ecosystem, to provide mission-critical smart-grid network solutions designed to meet members’ specific use case, geographic, and deployment requirements. The partnership will also allow NRTC members to construct, own, secure, and physically maintain LTE/5G-ready sites as needed to provide wireless coverage and capacity for legacy system retirement and grid modernization objectives.

“We are thrilled to partner with Ericsson, Southern Linc, and Anterix,” said Joe Walsh, Vice President of Smart Grid Networking at NRTC. “This collaboration closes a critical gap that rural electric cooperatives will face as they modernize their grid infrastructure. Together, we’re forging a path towards unparalleled connectivity, resilience, and security, ensuring that communities across the U.S. have access to the cutting-edge solutions they need to thrive.”

Southern Linc’s core hosting solution brings Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core solution, built on Ericsson’s Cloud Native Infrastructure, to NRTC member cooperatives and will provide the core connectivity for the private Radio Access Network. Combined with Ericsson Router 6000 and MINI-LINK 6000 offerings, this will provide a comprehensive framework for utilities to enhance their network capabilities while maintaining the highest standards of security and reliability. This partnership represents a significant step forward in bolstering the resilience of critical infrastructure and addressing the challenges posed by inclement weather, cybersecurity threats, and aging infrastructure.

“Our mission is to empower electric cooperatives to build a robust and future-proof network infrastructure that can withstand the demands of the modern world,” said Southern Linc Engineering Director Alan McIntyre. “By collaborating with Ericsson and NRTC, we are ensuring that utilities of all sizes have access to the latest private network solutions, enabling them to deliver highly reliable service to their communities.”

“Our agreement with NRTC, and its collaboration with Ericsson and Southern Linc, will provide NRTC’s utility cooperatives with the ability to directly access our 900 MHz spectrum, our 900 MHz platform and solutions, and the Anterix Active Ecosystem members and their offerings,” said Alice Moy-Gonzalez, Senior Vice President of Strategic Development at Anterix. “I believe that this collaboration, when combined with our current seven utility customers deploying in fifteen states, will deliver significant scale and scope benefits to our nation’s electric cooperatives as they develop and deploy private LTE networks.”

Through this collaboration, Ericsson, NRTC, Southern Linc, and Anterix are poised to revolutionize the landscape of co-op communications, setting new standards for reliability, resilience, and security in the digital age, working toward the well-being of communities, and the creation and support of local jobs and communities.

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ABOUT ANTERIX:
At Anterix, we engage with leading utilities and technology companies to harness the power of 900 MHz broadband for modernized grid solutions. Leading an ecosystem of more than 100 members, we offer utility-first solutions to modernize the grid and solve the challenges that utilities are facing today. As the largest holder of licensed spectrum in the 900 MHz band (896-901/935-940 MHz) throughout the contiguous United States, plus Alaska, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico, we are uniquely positioned to enable private wireless broadband solutions that support cutting-edge advanced communications capabilities for a cleaner, safer, and more secure energy future. To learn more and join the 900 MHz movement, please visit www.anterix.com.

ABOUT ERICSSON:
Ericsson enables communications service providers and enterprises to capture the full value of connectivity. The company’s portfolio spans the following business areas: Networks, Cloud Software and Services, Enterprise Wireless Solutions, Global Communications Platform, and Technologies and New Businesses. It is designed to help our customers go digital, increase efficiency and find new revenue streams. Ericsson’s innovation investments have delivered the benefits of mobility and mobile broadband to billions of people globally. Ericsson stock is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm and on Nasdaq New York. www.ericsson.com

ABOUT NRTC:
We are Member Driven and Technology Focused. NRTC provides solutions that help our 1,500 electric and telephone members bring all of the advantages of today’s evolving technology to rural America. NRTC’s Broadband, Smart Grid, Managed Services and Mobile solutions are developed specifically to meet the needs of rural utilities, their communities and their customers. We help our members evaluate, build, operate and maximize their critical network infrastructure. www.nrtc.coop

ABOUT SOUTHERN LINC:
Southern Linc is a wireless communications company and wholly-owned subsidiary of Southern Company. Southern Company (NYSE: SO) is a leading energy provider serving 9 million customers across the Southeast and beyond through its family of companies. Providing clean, safe, reliable and affordable energy with excellent service is our mission. The company has electric operating companies in three states, natural gas distribution companies in four states, a competitive generation company, a leading distributed energy distribution company with national capabilities, a fiber optics network and telecommunications services. Southern Linc delivers highly reliable, highly secure wireless voice and data services via the CriticalLinc™ 4G LTE Advanced network to Southern Company electric utilities as well as to a wide range of businesses and public sector agencies across Alabama, Georgia and southeastern Mississippi. The CriticalLinc network provides over-the-air encryption from devices to towers and supports encryption from towers to the network’s core data centers. This mission-critical network design conveys a highly reliable suite of LTE services that will support the most critical business processes.