Utility Broadband Alliance hosts summit to address key industry challenges

The Utility Broadband Alliance (UBBA) hosted a two-day summit for utility executives and industry technology leaders to explore key challenges facing electric utilities.

The summit, which was held in Birmingham, Ala., focused on a range of topics, including resiliency and cybersecurity in the digital utility grid of the future, broadband spectrum options, and vendor technologies that can aid in solving the challenges utility communication networks face. Representatives from the US Department of Energy, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Edison Electric Institute, and National Rural Electric Cooperative Association were also in attendance.

The summit was held at the offices of Southern Linc, a broadband company and UBBA founding member. It also included tours of Southern Linc’s first-in-the-nation private utility LTE deployment.

“Grid modernization and communications networks are in lockstep; one cannot happen without the other. Private wireless broadband is a key component of this strategy, providing the security and resiliency our networks need. We believe in sharing best practices across all service territories in order to facilitate the development of this critical piece of infrastructure,” Southern Linc President and CEO Tami Barron, who was the keynote speaker, said.

UBBA is dedicated to advancing and developing private LTE broadband as a critical communications infrastructure for a resilient digital grid.

“It was an incredible opportunity to have utility executives, government thought leaders and industry technology experts together at UBBA’s first member event discussing the role private broadband networks can play in helping to secure and strengthen our nation’s electric grid. UBBA was created solely for this purpose, to drive scale and innovation for the utility industry, and we are just getting started,” UBBA’s Director of Member Engagement and Operations Bobbi Harris said.