Industrial connectivity provider Ondas Networks has started offering private wireless connectivity for mission-critical services in the State of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico, plus certain adjacent counties. The company has switched on data coverage in large portions of these regions following its purchase of localised 700 MHz spectrum in May.
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.
In Alaska, the company has a wireless service covering Anchorage and Fairbanks North Star, Alaska’s two most populated boroughs with more than half of the State’s approximate 740,000 population. In the Gulf of Mexico, Ondas Networks has built coverage in coastal counties including Cameron Parish in Louisiana, and Victoria, Calhoun and Jefferson Counties in Texas.
It has deployed system trials with a railroad operator in the Wasilla/Cottonwood region of Alaska for mission-critical wayside connectivity, and Alaska-based utility Homer Electric Association is trialing its FullMAX technology for SCADA connectivity to portions of the electric grid in the Kenai Peninsula.
In the Gulf of Mexico, its customers include internet service provider TISD in Victoria and Calhoun Counties and Louisiana Radio Communications in Cameron Parish. The latter navigates marine pilot boats to port in Lake Charles. Ondas Networks is also negotiating to obtain additional tower assets in the Gulf of Mexico to establish mission-critical IoT services for fixed rig and mobile vessel connectivity.
The company said it plans to build national coverage in the US, offering private mobile and fixed wireless solutions with a flexible service model, geared towards each customer. Ondas Networks is serving mission-critical users, including electric and natural gas utilities, commercial and passenger rail companies, and oil and gas exploration and production.
Eric Brock, chief executive at Ondas Networks, said: “We have made great strides since our recent acquisition of the 700 MHz frequencies in the Gulf Region and Alaska. In record time, we have established service for approximately 700,000 people covering more than 25,000 square miles which shows the power and utility of our state-of-the-art FullMAX technology. We look forward to building out additional coverage and serving these critical industrial markets and customers.”
The State of Alaska and the Gulf Region are major economic drivers for the U.S. economy with significant amounts of industrial infrastructure including oil and gas fields and pipelines, commercial vessel traffic, commercial rail transport and liquid natural gas facilities.
Meanwhile, California-based Telewave has struck a reseller deal to offer Ondas Networks’ FullMAX software defined radio (SDR) platform to local and state government, first responders and utility customers.
Telewave will also promote Ondas Networks’s Mobile Van solution, which provides a temporary private wireless network for emergency communications. The Mobile Van provides around 2,800 square miles of data communications using privately licensed radio frequencies. The van comes equipped with a 50-foot telescoping tower.
Telewave makes radio frequency (RF) systems for wireless operators, public safety providers, local and state governments, and federal agencies. It will sell the solution with its own Telewave Assistance in Disaster (AID) programme, to assist entities whose systems and infrastructure has been damaged by extreme natural or man-made events.
