News
U.S. telco looks ahead to use of drone technology to boost LTE network capacity.
Using drone technology could enable mobile operators to provide connectivity in areas where many people have congregated and might otherwise struggle with contention, AT&T pointed out this week.
The U.S. telco is looking towards a future in which a temporary LTE cell could be installed in a drone hovering above a large concert, for example, enabling the audience to send photos and videos, despite the number of simultaneous users.
When pigs fly, you might say.
Not quite. In a blog post on Wednesday AT&T conceded that this scenario is not yet a reality, but it is serious about pushing ahead with the concept.
"Possible uses include Flying COWs (Cell on Wings) providing LTE coverage at large events or even rapid disaster response," wrote AT&T’s chief strategy officer John Donovan.
"A Flying COW may even be able to provide coverage when a vehicle is unable to drive to a designated area," he added.
Donovan’s comments came as the telco officially launched the trial phase of its national drone programme, which will focus on the ways in which it could benefit from drone-based solutions.
AT&T already uses drones to make aerial inspections of its cell sites, enabling it to carry out checks quickly and more safely, as well as accessing areas that would be inaccessible to a person.
"Connecting drones to our nationwide LTE network lets us capture data and feed it directly to our systems. In turn, this can allow us to make changes to our network in real time," Donovan said.
He added that in addition to using drones for network enhancement, the operator’s Internet of Things (IoT) team is developing customer-focused solutions based on the technology.
"We’re researching how in-flight drones can use our LTE network to send large amounts of data in real-time," he said. "This capability may benefit areas such as insurance, farming, facility and asset inspections, and even delivery service companies."
