RESTON, Va. and SAN JOSE, Ca. – October 10, 2023 – Ligado Networks and GCT Semiconductor announced today that GCT’s LTE and LTE-M commercial chipsets will enable devices to operate on LTE Band 54 spectrum at 1670-1675 MHz.
As a leading designer and supplier of 5G and advanced LTE solutions, GCT chipset support for LTE Band 54 expands the ecosystem utilizing the spectrum – while enhancing opportunities afforded to the critical infrastructure industry, including utility and other enterprise organizations seeking to deploy private networks.
“What makes Band 54 so appealing is that it is not only a much-needed addition to mid-band spectrum resources for U.S. enterprises, but it is also available contiguously across the country,” said Sachin Chhibber, Chief Technology Officer at Ligado Networks. He pointed out that the implementation of LTE technology within the already 3GPP-standardized 5-MHz block of spectrum is an ideal fit for customers seeking to deploy private networks – supporting a wide range of applications anywhere in the country.
“We’re excited to be working with Ligado on bringing Band 54 chipset support to the ecosystem,” added Frank Jungman, VP of Technical Marketing at GCT Semiconductor. “The 5-MHz slice of lower mid-band frequencies provides golden opportunities for critical infrastructure customers to expand into private networks. Our mature and commercially available chipsets enable superior high-speed LTE connectivity and, together with Ligado, we look forward to delivering market-proven solutions optimized for customers’ specific needs.”
Chhibber explained that Band 54’s Time Division Duplex (TDD) capability equips utility users with significant flexibility, as different ratios of uplink versus downlink slots may be utilized to suit customer needs according to the requirements of a given mission-critical application.
“The benefits of TDD can’t be understated, as it offers customers a huge degree of flexibility,” Chhibber noted. “TDD – as opposed to Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) bands – doesn’t need paired uplink and downlink channels and gives users the ability to use scarce mid-band spectrum resources in ways they actually need. More uplink-heavy users, such as utilities that need connectivity for monitoring, can deploy a tailormade network to meet this priority.”
About Ligado Networks
Building on 25 years of experience providing crucial satellite connectivity, our mission is to bring versatile, mobile connectivity to the businesses, people and places that need it most. Our satellite and terrestrial solutions, combined with powerful, lower mid-band spectrum, serve to supplement and broaden mobile coverage across the United States and Canada. Our innovative satellite and terrestrial network deployment plans will help pave the way for future innovations and economic growth across America.
About GCT Semiconductor, Inc.
GCT Semiconductor is a leading fabless designer and supplier of advanced 5G and 4G LTE semiconductor solutions. GCT’s market-proven solutions have enabled fast and reliable LTE connectivity to numerous commercial devices such as smartphones, tablets, hotspots, USB dongles, routers, M2M applications, etc., for the world’s top carriers. GCT’s system-on-chip solutions integrate radio frequency, baseband modem and digital signal processing functions, therefore offering complete 4G and 5G platform solutions with small form factors, low power consumption, high performance, high reliability and cost effectiveness. For more information, visit www.gctsemi.com.
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