https://urgentcomm.com/wp-content/themes/ucm_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Multimedia
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • Commentary
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • All Things IWCE
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Resources
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • IWCE
    • Conference
    • Special Events
    • Exhibitor Listings
    • Premier Partners
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Register for IWCE
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
    • Cookie Policy
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • Mission Critical Technologies
    • TU-Auto
  • In the field
    • Back
    • In the field
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Internet of Things
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Call Center/Command
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Network Tech
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Operations
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Regulations
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • Organizations
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
Urgent Communications
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • News
  • Multimedia
    • Back
    • Video
    • Podcasts
    • Omdia Crit Comms Circle Podcast
    • Galleries
    • IWCE’s Video Showcase
    • Product Guides
  • Commentary
    • Back
    • All Things IWCE
    • Urgent Matters
    • View From The Top
    • Legal Matters
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
    • Reprints & Reuse
    • UC eZines
    • Sponsored content
  • IWCE
    • Back
    • Conference
    • Why Attend
    • Exhibitor Listing
    • Floor Plan
    • Exhibiting Information
    • Join the Event Mailing List
  • About Us
    • Back
    • About Us
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Cookie Policy
    • Terms of Service
    • Privacy Statement
  • Related Sites
    • Back
    • American City & County
    • IWCE
    • Light Reading
    • IOT World Today
    • TU-Auto
  • newsletter
  • In the field
    • Back
    • Internet of Things
    • Broadband Push-to-X
    • Project 25
    • Public-Safety Broadband/FirstNet
    • Virtual/Augmented Reality
    • Land Mobile Radio
    • Long Term Evolution (LTE)
    • Applications
    • Drones/Robots
    • IoT/Smart X
    • Software
    • Subscriber Devices
    • Video
  • Call Center/Command
    • Back
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • NG911
    • Alerting Systems
    • Analytics
    • Dispatch/Call-taking
    • Incident Command/Situational Awareness
    • Tracking, Monitoring & Control
  • Network Tech
    • Back
    • Cybersecurity
    • Interoperability
    • LMR 100
    • LMR 200
    • Backhaul
    • Deployables
    • Power
    • Tower & Site
    • Wireless Networks
    • Coverage/Interference
    • Security
    • System Design
    • System Installation
    • System Operation
    • Test & Measurement
  • Operations
    • Back
    • Critical Infrastructure
    • Enterprise
    • Federal Government/Military
    • Public Safety
    • State & Local Government
    • Training
  • Regulations
    • Back
    • Narrowbanding
    • T-Band
    • Rebanding
    • TV White Spaces
    • None
    • Funding
    • Policy
    • Regional Coordination
    • Standards
  • Organizations
    • Back
    • AASHTO
    • APCO
    • DHS
    • DMR Association
    • ETA
    • EWA
    • FCC
    • IWCE
    • NASEMSO
    • NATE
    • NXDN Forum
    • NENA
    • NIST/PSCR
    • NPSTC
    • NTIA/FirstNet
    • P25 TIG
    • TETRA + CCA
    • UTC
acc.com

Critical Infrastructure


News

Evergy becomes third utility to sign long-term spectrum lease with Anterix

Evergy becomes third utility to sign long-term spectrum lease with Anterix

  • Written by Donny Jackson
  • 21st September 2021

Evergy agreed to a long-term lease of 900 MHz spectrum licensed to Anterix, yesterday announcing a $30.2 million deal that will give the utility access to the broadband airwaves to support the deployment of a private LTE system that is expected to enable critical smart-grid applications.

Under the agreement, Evergy will pay $30.2 million upfront to lease the 3×3 MHz of 900 MHz spectrum from Anterix for 20 years and has the option to exercise two 10-year renewals, meaning that Evergy could have access to the airwaves in its Kansas and Missouri territory for as long as 40 years.

Anterix President and CEO Rob Schwartz said the Evergy agreement is an indication of the interest that the utility industry has shown in the prospect of leveraging 900 MHz broadband spectrum to build private LTE networks.

“The demand side from the utilities is real and is moving forward,” Schwartz said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “We’re just wildly excited to have the leadership of Evergy joining the chorus of the industry to really help talk about how important this is and help pull others together to drive this forward

Anterix officials are working with more than 50 utilities, from municipally owned and rural co-op entities to large investor-owned organizations that serve the vast majority of meters in the United States, Schwartz said. Anterix expects to announce “several more” deals before the company’s fiscal year ends on March 31, he said.

Southern Company in the southeast U.S. was the first utility to announce plans to use LTE in its operations via its own licensed spectrum. Evergy marks the third utility deal announced by Anterix in the last nine months—following agreements with Ameren and San Diego Gas & Electric—and more agreements should become public in the near future, Schwartz said.

“With private LTE, there’s a commitment and an understanding now,” Schwartz said. “Thanks to Southern’s leadership and now with these three, there are now four entities in the utility space that are now relying on it. I just think that it’s kind of  an unstoppable force at this point—at least I’m hopeful in that regard.

“We’re confident that we’re just going to see the industry moving forward here. The momentum we’re seeing is turning into a movement.”

Chris Guttman-McCabe, chief regulatory and communications officer for Anterix, agreed, noting that utilities’ public comments about their perceptions of private LTE have changed significantly during the past 12 months. Indeed, it was only in May 2020 that Anterix received approval from the FCC to transition its licensed 900 MHz LMR airwaves to a contiguous 3×3 MHz swath that could support LTE services.

“Think about where we were as a company as recently as a year ago, trying to convince people about private LTE,” Guttman-McCabe said during an interview with IWCE’s Urgent Communications. “Now, you’ve got trade organizations and trade associations saying, ‘That issue’s already been decided. What’s next?’”

That certainly is the case for Evergy, which was created in 2018 through the merger of local energy providers Westar and Kansas City Power & Light.

“Smart-grid technologies have a growing importance for our grid modernization efforts as we continue to transform our operations to a focus on clean, safe and reliable energy,” Kevin Bryant, Evergy’s executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO), said yesterday in a prepared statement. “Today’s agreement with Anterix provides a key component of the communications foundation required to help advance these initiatives, which are not only important for increased safety and efficiency, but are also crucial to maintain a resilient grid in the future.”

Evergy is similar in size and demographics to Ameren—the first utility to sign a long-term spectrum lease with Anterix—and actually shares a service-territory border with Ameren in 25 Missouri counties. This means that the two utilities will have the opportunity to conduct real-world tests of interoperability and other key “network-of-network” capabilities, according to Schwartz.

“The most fundamental example for utilities is mutual aid,” he said. “When a storm comes through one of their territories, they have existing agreements to help each other—the trucks roll to restore any system outages. Now, they have interoperability potentially between not just the mobile communications systems but also the devices they’re deploying on the same kind of networks.”

And Anterix is helping encourage players throughout the industry to develop an ecosystem of solutions to address some of the most challenging problems facing utility leaders today, Schwartz said.

“This is now a C-suite issue about, ‘How do we deal with climate change and renewable energy sources? How do we deal with our environmental commitments that we’ve made to our shareholders and the public? How do we deal with cybersecurity issues that are happening? How do we deal with these increasing storms and resiliency issues?’” Schwartz said.

“These first three [utilities that have signed deals with Anterix] are pioneering. I think soon, those who don’t do this are really taking risks by not putting in a system like to put in the right level of command and control of their infrastructure.”

 

Tags: homepage-featured-4 Alerting Systems Applications Backhaul Companies Coverage/Interference Critical Infrastructure Enterprise FCC Funding Incident Command/Situational Awareness Internet of Things Interoperability IoT/Smart X Long Term Evolution (LTE) News Policy Regional Coordination Software Standards State & Local Government System Design System Installation System Operation Tracking, Monitoring & Control Wireless Networks News

Most Recent


  • AT&T wireless growth keyed by FirstNet—now provides 24,000 agencies with 4.4 million connections
    AT&T this week reported that FirstNet ended 2022 supporting more than 24,000 public-safety agencies with “about” 4.4 million connections, including 377,000 connections that were added during the last three months of 2022—a total that represents more than half of the carrier’s post-paid wireless growth for the quarter. AT&T officials released these figures in conjunction with […]
  • Report: Remote work causing offices to empty, but walkable cities still in high demand
    Given the reliance on vehicular transportation in the United States, some American cities historically haven’t prioritized being walkable in past planning and or design. But amid an unprecedented shift in the economy toward remote work, those that have are increasingly desirable for prospective residents. A new report from Smart Growth American and Places Platform, “Foot Traffic Ahead […]
  • AT&T FirstNet unleashes robotic dogs for emergency services
    AT&T is releasing robotic hounds from Ghost Robotics as part of the service provider’s FirstNet emergency responder service. In a blog, AT&T VP Lance Spencer explained that the robotic dogs will be connected to AT&T’s network and deployed for public safety, defense, federal and state agencies, local police and fire departments, and commercial customers. “Network-connected robotic dogs can deliver a […]
  • Federal agencies infested by cyberattackers via legit remote-management systems
    It has come to light that hackers cleverly utilized two off-the-shelf remote monitoring and management systems (RMMs) to breach multiple Federal Civilian Executive Branch (FCEB) agency networks in the US last summer. On Jan. 25, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), National Security Agency (NSA), and Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC) released […]

Leave a comment Cancel reply

To leave a comment login with your Urgent Comms account:

Log in with your Urgent Comms account

Or alternatively provide your name, email address below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Evergy becomes third utility to sign long-term spectrum lease with Anterix
    Newscan: Four months after a sophisticated cyberattack, Alaska’s health department is still recovering
  • Lynk signs satellite-to-phone deals with first two wireless carriers
  • New Cooperative's ransomware attack underscores threat to food and agriculture
  • Experts hope V2X connectivity will reduce cybersecurity risks for intelligent transportation

Commentary


How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient

26th January 2023

3GPP moves Release 18 freeze date to March 2024

18th January 2023

Do smart cities make safer cities?

  • 1
6th January 2023
view all

Events


UC Ezines


IWCE 2019 Wrap Up

13th May 2019
view all

Twitter


UrgentComm

AT&T wireless growth keyed by FirstNet—now provides 24,000 agencies with 4.4 million connections dlvr.it/ShY5qH

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Report: Remote work causing offices to empty, but walkable cities still in high demand dlvr.it/ShXM7Z

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

AT&T FirstNet unleashes robotic dogs for emergency services dlvr.it/ShW7p8

27th January 2023
UrgentComm

Federal agencies infested by cyberattackers via legit remote-management systems dlvr.it/ShVhn3

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

How 5G is making cities safer, smarter, and more efficient dlvr.it/ShVS1h

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

MCPTT interworking for critical communications dlvr.it/ShTm3P

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

Self-driving cars present terrorism risk, FBI director says dlvr.it/ShTTHx

26th January 2023
UrgentComm

UK Home Office officially will cut ESN ties with Motorola Solutions in December dlvr.it/ShNjfN

24th January 2023

Newsletter

Sign up for UrgentComm’s newsletters to receive regular news and information updates about Communications and Technology.

Expert Commentary

Learn from experts about the latest technology in automation, machine-learning, big data and cybersecurity.

Business Media

Find the latest videos and media from the market leaders.

Media Kit and Advertising

Want to reach our digital and print audiences? Learn more here.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • American City & County
  • IWCE
  • Light Reading
  • IOT World Today
  • Mission Critical Technologies
  • TU-Auto

WORKING WITH US

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Events
  • Careers

FOLLOW Urgent Comms ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2023 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.