Illinois Electric Cooperative (IEC) is leveraging the Connect America Fund II and shared spectrum to deliver fixed wireless access (FWA) internet service to residents of Pike County, Illinois. The utility is hosting is own LTE core network supplied by Ericsson and Xtreme LTE, and using Ericsson radios that support Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) as well as Educational Broadcast Services (EBS) spectrum.
“Illinois Electric Cooperative is taking a major step toward expanding connectivity and broadband services in areas where they are unavailable,” said Matt Haverfield, network operations manager for Illinois Electric Cooperative, in a press release.
IEC has been a fixed wireless provider since 2006 and provides internet services in eight counties for 5,600 subscribers. Haverfield said the company applied for CAF ll funding in order to provide better wireless service to its members and was awarded a grant for one part of its service area, Pike County.
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Although the private LTE network is small, IEC was able to source the carrier-grade equipment it needed by working with Ericsson FWA partner Xtreme LTE. Xtreme LTE offers smaller operators a turnkey FWA solution, said Julie McGowan, the company’s SVP of business development and sales. For IEC, Xtreme LTE provided Ericsson network infrastructure, along with SIM cards, customer premise equipment and access to a Spectrum Access System through its relationship with Google.
CBRS networks use Spectrum Access Systems since the frequencies are shared by the U.S. government, Priority Access License holders, and third-tier users accessing the spectrum without a license. IEC is a license holder; the utility acquired 15 licenses in four counties for a total of $1.1 million in the FCC’s auction of CBRS spectrum.
After securing its licenses, IEC got busy planning its private CBRS network. The ability to deploy quickly is important to CAF funding winners, not only because they want to bring broadband to more people, but also because the FCC requires them to meet specific coverage milestones and complete their build-outs within six years.
“CAF-II performance requirements are stringent, so a robust evaluation process was in the best interest of IEC’s long-term success,” said Jay Briscoe, a member of the engineering staff at consultant Vantage Point Solutions, in a press release. Vantage Point Solutions helped IEC conduct field tests with Xtreme LTE to confirm the Ericsson solution’s ability to deliver the speeds IEC committed to in its CAF bid: a minimum of 100 Mbps on the downlink and 20 Mbps on the uplink.
IEC is in charge of deploying technicians to install both the massive MIMO towertop antennas and the customer premise equipment supplied by BEC Technologies. McGowan said the integrator pre-provisions data onto equipment, making it possible for customers to hire technicians with less training to perform installations.
The utility has not yet announced 100 Mbps service on its public website and is currently offering 25 Mbps for $55 per month to members of the cooperative. Non-members pay $65 per month. A quick check showed no service offered by Comcast, Charter or AT&T at a county office address.
Once the network is complete, LTE performance should meet customer needs for the foreseeable future, Haverman said, adding the network is upgradeable to 5G. “When the need to increase capacity arises, we will have that option available,” he said. “We are always looking to improve service when it is feasible.”