Telecom Lead America: Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent have assisted Dish in its fixed wireless broadband service pilot.
Dish and nTelos Holding, the partner of Dish, have deployed broadband service in rural Virginia using wireless spectrum in the 2.5 GHz range.
Dish and nTelos have not disclosed details on the duration of the trial service or plans for expansion beyond the test sites.
Broadband service speeds at the initial test sites are ranging from 20 Mbps to more than 50 Mbps.
nTelos and Dish have activated two wireless tower test sites in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Waynesboro and Afton, Va.
Dish on Thursday said both Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent have provided equipment and assisted in the installation.
The trial differentiates itself from prior fixed broadband services by relying on professionally installed rooftop devices at customers’ homes that are intended to deliver significant gain and throughput advantages over inside-the-home antenna solutions.
As part of the pilot project, Dish has deployed BandRich ruggedized outdoor routers with built-in high-gain antennas to receive the 2.5 GHz LTE signal.
“With nearly a fifth of American households underserved by broadband, a fixed wireless solution delivering true broadband speeds will bring improved broadband options to potentially millions of consumers,” said Tom Cullen, Dish executive vice president of Corporate Development.
