Reported CBRS private LTE trial at Dallas Love Field Airport, Texas

Overview

Boingo Wireless deployed a trial private LTE network on CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) spectrum at Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL) and announced it on July 23, 2018, calling it the first known CBRS deployment at a major U.S. airport.^[1] The commercial trial ran under Special Temporary Authority from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), granted while the FCC was still considering the band's access rules.^[1][2] Boingo's chief technology officer told RCR Wireless that five Ruckus radios covered the whole airport for about 20 users in the airport's IT department, who connected laptops through dongles, and that Federated Wireless provided the Spectrum Access System.^[2]

At a glance

Organization

Dallas Love Field, part of the Dallas Airport System.^[1]

Location

Dallas Love Field Airport (DAL), Dallas.^[1]

Date reported

July 23, 2018;^[1] Boingo's CTO said the network was deployed at the end of May 2018.^[2]

Spectrum

CBRS (3.5 GHz) under an FCC Special Temporary Authority.^[1] Boingo's CTO compared speeds to LTE networks with 40 MHz available, without stating the trial's own channel width.^[2]

Technology

Private LTE; Boingo described it as a neutral host CBRS network operating as a private LTE solution.^[1]

Scale as reported

Five radio nodes covering the airport and about 20 users; RCR Wireless noted the facility has more than 100 Wi-Fi access points by comparison.^[2]

Vendors and roles

Boingo Wireless: network operator.^[1] Ruckus: radio nodes. Federated Wireless: Spectrum Access System.^[2]

Integrator

Not publicly stated beyond Boingo.

Status

A commercial trial as of July 2018, with FCC authority to run for six months.^[2] In June 2023 a Boingo vice president described it as the first CBRS airport private network, launched in 2018.^[3] We found no public update on whether the network stayed in service after the trial.

How the network is used

• Laptop connectivity for the airport's IT department staff through LTE dongles during the trial.^[2]
• Expanding wireless coverage and capacity for airport operations (campus and in-building).^[1]

Reported results

As reported by the sources below; not independently verified.

• Boingo's CTO, Derek Peterson, told RCR Wireless that the five radios covered the entire airport and that each node could probably support 50 to 100 users at good speeds. These are vendor statements; no test results were published.^[2]

Timeline

1. Jun 9, 2023

   In an ACI-NA blog post, a Boingo vice president cites Dallas Love Field as the first CBRS airport private network.^[3]

2. Jul 23, 2018

   Boingo announces the CBRS commercial trial at Dallas Love Field.^[1][2]

3. May 2018

   Boingo deploys the trial network at the end of May, according to its CTO.^[2]