Connected Real Estate Magazine talks LTE and CBRS with Ruckus

Wireless: The fourth utility Connected Real Estate Magazine recently sat down with Ruckus LTE Vice President Joel Lindholm to discuss the company’s Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) LTE 3.5 Ghz-band access points (APs). As Lindholm notes, everyone in today’s world depends on connectivity for a growing lineup of wireless devices. This has a real impact on how the commercial real estate market views the fundamental connectivity requirements for a wide range of properties, including single/multi-tenant office buildings, hotels, hospitals, dormitories and apartment complexes. CBRS, says Lindholm, will be a powerful tool in helping to solve the connectivity challenge – and can also help to create more profitable properties by increasing tenant satisfaction and occupancy. LTE APs: Easy to deploy and manage According to Lindholm, the Ruckus LTE APs – which look and act just like Wi-Fi APs – are currently undergoing field trials across the United States. Ruckus has been working for 3+ years to simplify the deployment of LTE for Enterprises. The LTE APs are packaged with a subscription service that enables cloud-based AP management, automated CBRS spectrum allocation and LTE network services. “Our message to building owners and managers is: ‘We’re going to bring you LTE that’s as easy to deploy as Wi-Fi,’” he explains. “It’s now well-established that offering guests, residents and tenants high-quality Wi-Fi is a differentiator and revenue enhancer. Great indoor cellular coverage is the next wireless frontier – and the next opportunity for owners and managers to distinguish their properties.” As Lindholm points out, commercial real estate owners and managers are not LTE radio network engineers, nor are their IT teams. Put simply, they really don’t want to get into the details of the technology. “[For this kind of system to be broadly adopted, it needs to be easy] to deploy, so we’ve got to abstract away the complexity of legacy approaches,” he emphasizes. “That’s where the subscription comes in – we’re going to be packaging that all up. So, you install LTE APs, get a subscription and you’re done.” LTE APs: A more affordable alternative to DAS Lindholm also notes that Ruckus sees its LTE access points as a much more affordable alternative to standard distributed antenna systems (DAS), as only the top 10 or 20 percent of venues can afford to install DAS. Moreover, DAS requires special cabling, as well as each carrier to install its own base station equipment or cells. “The status quo is super-expensive, painful and carriers only do it in premiere venues that can justify that kind of effort,” he says. “That’s not our game. CBRS makes it possible for building and venue owners to deploy a carrier-agnostic private LTE network as easily as they deploy their private Wi-Fi networks. We’re happy to have the big venues go with DAS. For everybody else, there’s no contest.” Essentially, says Lindholm, CBRS opens the door for anybody to deploy their own LTE and satisfy the needs of property owners and enterprise tenants. “We’re going to help people in the commercial real estate market take advantage of this,” he adds. At a glance: The Ruckus OpenG™ LTE portfolio As discussed above, Ruckus CBRS LTE APs enable building owners and managers to more easily deploy private LTE networks and ensure high quality-of-service (QoS). For service providers, Ruckus CBRS access points provide cost-effective LTE for in-building and outdoor coverage – with more capacity for areas with heavy data traffic. The Ruckus OpenG™ LTE portfolio includes:

• Ruckus Q710—A 3.5 GHz indoor LTE AP that covers approximately 10,000 square feet.
• Ruckus Q910—A 3.5 GHz outdoor LTE AP that covers approximately the area within a 660-foot city block.
• Ruckus cEMS—Cloud-based element management system (cEMS) delivered as a subscription service that brings Wi-Fi like simplicity and zero-touch provisioning to LTE AP management.
• Ruckus cEPC—Cloud-based evolved packet core (cEPC) delivered as subscription service that provides required LTE network core functionality and subscriber management.
• Ruckus cSAS—Cloud-based spectrum allocation server (cSAS) delivered as a subscription service that ensures spectrum availability per CBRS spectrum requirements.
• ARRIS professional services for service provider network planning and deployment.

It should be noted that cloud services are available as a single-bundled subscription or on an a la carte basis. In combination with Ruckus LTE APs, the three subscription services provide all the necessary elements to operate a CBRS-band LTE network. Interested in learning more about our Ruckus OpenG LTE portfolio? You can review additional resources and documents here.