Orange Poland and Ericsson have presented the potential of LTE 450 MHz network for the energy sector. Ericsson and Orange are offering to implement a private mobile broadband network for the energy sector, which could meet the requirements of critical communication, smart grids and IoT. The demonstration of data transmission equipment in the LTE 450 MHz band and metering infrastructure was possible thanks to the partnership with the companies Telit and PySENSE, which provided and integrated the network elements tested.
The frequency ranges in the 450 MHz band have been released after Orange’s licence expired at the end of 2016 and the operator refused to extend it for the price demanded by the UKE, PLN 115.5 million, as Orange considered it too high. In between, the regulator UKE planned a tender to award the released frequencies. However, following the adoption of the Telecommunications Act amendment, which assumed the award of the frequencies to the energy sector, UKE officially withdrew the tender.
Orange and Ericsson have presented the advantages of LTE 450 MHz network. It allows services such as smart metering, device monitoring, steering of infrastructure and fulfilment of various tasks related to critical communication. It can meet the requirements of the energy sector, including the installation of 1.5 million meters for tariff C to be constantly online by the end of 2020, as assumed under the Capacity Market Act. Orange Poland’s infrastructure and Ericsson’s equipment and software enable the installation of the first elements of such a network within a short time.
Orange has experience in LTE network management, serving not only its own clients but also the infrastructure of other operators. It has experience with a network using the 450 MHz band (CDMA), too. Orange can offer an infrastructure with 11,000 base stations, of which more than 2,000 are the operator’s own masts, allowing it to launch LTE 450 MHz services quickly. Orange also claims to have the most well-developed backbone network in the country with a capacity of terabits per second and high level of network security
Orange Poland, as one of the leaders in IoT, serves more than 1 million M2M Sim cards on its network. In cooperation with the energy sector, the operator is testing LTE-Mtechnology, supporting smart metering and smart home services.
