Telrad high-speed LTE solutions enable Bluebird customers to ‘cut the cord’ from cable and access Internet-based TV and entertainment


Lod, Israel – August 16, 2016 — Telrad Networks, a global provider of TD-LTE broadband solutions, today announced that Bluebird BroadbandServices, a Louisiana headquartered Internet Service Provider, has selected Telrad LTE solutions for metro-wide network deployments that will offer high-speed Internet service to residential and business customers.

Bluebird, whose coverage areas include Northwest Louisiana, East Texas and the Fort Smith/Van Buren area of Arkansas, have targeted Fort Smith and its home city of Shreveport as the first areas in which to complete the network upgrades. The company has been strategic with its deployment, targeting customers who desire higher Internet packages and who are interested in joining a worldwide trend of discontinuing cable or satellite TV service, and instead opting for an online TV and entertainment experience.

The Shreveport network is operating on the semi-licensed 3.65 GHz spectrum, while the Fort Smith network is operating on an EBS 2.5 GHz spectrum license, which allows for an extremely reliable connection and, with higher-power operation, increases capacity and coverage.

The Telrad product portfolio is well suited to the Bluebird network, which has areas of heavy tree foliage, in which wireless signal penetration is usually difficult to impossible. The award-winning BreezeCOMPACT all-in-one LTE base station solution addresses some of the toughest non-line-of-sight (NLOS) scenarios, enabling connectivity to hard-to-reach customers.

“Telrad’s reputation is well known amongst rural wireless Internet Service Providers. Their ability to contend with NLOS conditions is revolutionary for businesses like ours,” commented Tony Downs, General Manager of Bluebird Broadband Services. “This has never been possible before – not in WiMAX or any other technology. This is a huge deal for us, increasing our coverage areas and enabling us to reach more customers. Additionally, Telrad has a fantastic support team, who has been at our side every step of the way.”

“Telrad offers a standards-based LTE product suite that combines the ideal price, technical capabilities, core network and product flexibility for wireless Internet service providers such as Bluebird,” said Chris Daniels, Vice President and Regional GM of North America for Telrad. “Bluebird is joining a global trend, offering customers unlimited connectivity packages that are ideal for those wishing to ‘cut the cord’ for cable and move to Internet based television and entertainment. Telrad can support these business models with a truly standards-based solution that significantly increases coverage and capacity.”

Downs noted that the Bluebird LTE Unlimited Package has no data caps, allowing unlimited streaming to all the devices in a home or business.

Coupled with the Telrad BreezeCOMPACT high power 4×4 radio with advanced MIMO techniques is the BreezeWAY EPC, which provides standard EPC (MME, SGW, PGW) compliance, as well as additional features designed especially to support fixed wireless operators, with a reasonably priced entry point, immense scalability and end-to-end management.

About Bluebird Broadband Services
Bluebird has been a local Internet Service Provider, headquartered in the Shreveport/ Bossier City, LA area since 2006. Bluebird has since expanded service to cover much of North and Central Louisiana as well as portions of North East Texas. Bluebird serves customers with state-of-the-art Internet, telephone, and data center services, and we specialize in local, personalized, customer care. Bluebird has now deployed a cutting edge 4th Generation LTE Broadband System in Van Buren and Ft. Smith, Arkansas, designed to deliver speeds up to 50 Mbps to residences and businesses throughout the metro area. (bluebirdbroadband.com)

About Telrad Networks
Telrad Networks is a global provider of innovative LTE broadband solutions, boasting over 300 4G deployments in 100 countries. Telrad stands at the forefront of the technology evolution of next-generation TD-LTE solutions in the sub-6 GHz market. Since 1951, the company has been a recognized pioneer in the telecom industry, facilitating the connectivity needs of millions of end-users through operators, ISPs and enterprises around the world. (telrad.com)