Reported Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) private LTE network in Texas

Overview

The Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a Texas public utility, signed a multi-year agreement with Ericsson to build a mission-critical private LTE network across parts of 68 Texas counties; Ericsson announced it on February 4, 2025 and said initial operations were scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2025.^[1] The network is meant to support grid modernization, mission-critical push-to-talk, and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition), and to serve electric cooperatives and local government entities.^[1] RCR Wireless reported that LCRA licenses 900 MHz spectrum from Anterix for the network,^[2] and that LCRA had earlier received FCC authority to test 900 MHz private LTE at 13 sites with equipment from vendors including Nokia and Ericsson.^[3]

At a glance

Organization

Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), a public utility in Texas.^[1]

Location

Parts of 68 Texas counties.^[1] The 2024 test plan named sites in Austin, San Marcos, Brookesmith, Paint Rock, and Wharton, Texas.^[3]

Date announced

February 4, 2025.^[1]

Spectrum

900 MHz licensed from Anterix, according to RCR Wireless, which reported LCRA added licenses covering another 34 counties in January 2025.^[2] Ericsson's release does not name the band.^[1]

Technology

Private LTE with Ericsson's geographically redundant, 5G-ready dual-mode 5G Core, plus RAN, network management, and security management.^[1]

Scale as reported

Parts of 68 Texas counties.^[1] Site and device counts for the production network are not publicly stated.

Vendors and roles

Ericsson: core, RAN, management, and security, with 24/7 monitoring by its network operations teams.^[1] Anterix: 900 MHz spectrum.^[2]

Integrator

Not publicly stated beyond Ericsson.

Status

Announced on February 4, 2025, with initial operations scheduled for the first quarter of 2025;^[1] we found no later public update confirming the network is in service.

How the network is used

• Grid modernization and protection of utility operations against extreme weather and malicious actors (remote and utility sites).^[1]
• Mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT) and SCADA for LCRA's own operations.^[1]
• Critical communications for electric cooperatives and municipal, school, transit, and other government entities.^[1]

Reported results

As reported by the sources below; not independently verified.

• No measured results were published; the February 2025 announcement describes plans.^[1]

Timeline

1. Feb 4, 2025

   Ericsson and LCRA announce a multi-year agreement for a private LTE network across parts of 68 Texas counties, with initial operations scheduled for the first quarter of 2025.^[1][2]

2. Jan 2025

   LCRA takes additional 900 MHz licenses from Anterix covering another 34 Texas counties, according to RCR Wireless.^[2]

3. Jan 18, 2024

   RCR Wireless reports that the FCC granted LCRA a 12-month special temporary authority to test private LTE in Anterix's 900 MHz spectrum at 13 sites.^[3]