Private LTE for utilities is a program, not a rollout.
Sitenna gives utility network teams one place to baseline every site, phase the build, coordinate every contractor and report progress across a private LTE rollout that runs for years. Whatever your spectrum. Whichever vendor you choose.
Why private LTE rollouts slip, and what keeps them on plan. 45 seconds.
Why utilities are building private LTE networks
The grid is no longer a line from plant to meter. Generation is scattering, storage sits everywhere, and transmission has to roughly double. Every one of those assets now has to be connected, monitored and controlled.
A grid you have to keep live and defend is not something you run on a network you rent. That is why utilities are building their own private LTE networks, on 900 MHz broadband, CBRS or other spectrum, licensed for decades and built out over years across every substation, tower and facility in the estate.
The commitment is board-level and multi-year. So is the program it takes to deliver it.
Where private LTE rollouts slip
Spectrum and vendors get chosen early. The hard weeks come later, when hundreds of sites, years of phasing and a dozen teams have to move together. If you run the program, these will sound familiar.
Which of our sites can we actually trust the data for?
Site records live in four systems that disagree, and some sites have not been visited in years.
Is cohort two still on for this quarter?
The sequence lives in spreadsheets and starts drifting the moment work begins.
Who has the latest drawings for this substation?
Wireless, fiber, security and contractors each run their own trackers, email threads and shared sheets.
Can someone pull a status for the steering committee by Friday?
Progress gets pieced together after the fact, so slippage shows up late.
None of that is radio engineering. It is the program around it.
How Sitenna runs a utility private LTE program
Four things to get right, each building on the last, all running off one baseline.
Start from what is really out there
Every site, asset and gap in one record before the build starts, so the program and the business case rest on the estate as it is.
- One site record that brings together spreadsheets, GIS and existing trackers
- Sites with missing or conflicting data flagged for survey
- Each site tagged for new build, upgrade, or decommission and replace
A plan that holds up once work starts
Group sites into cohorts by criticality, phase them across funding years, and run every site against its own milestones and schedule.
- Cohorts and phases you can re-sequence as scope changes
- Milestones, tasks and schedules for every site
- Templates you reuse for every cohort, so the next one starts faster
Every team working the same site
Wireless, fiber, security, O&M and outside contractors on one secure record, instead of separate trackers, inboxes and shared sheets.
- Secure access for contractors and integrators, scoped to their work
- Drawings and documents held against the site, not in someone's inbox
- Field teams update from a tablet, or by answering an email data request
See it while you can still act
Progress by site, cohort and contractor in live dashboards, so what is behind shows up while there is still time to do something about it.
- Live dashboards across sites, cohorts and contractors
- Steering committee updates without a reporting scramble
- Exports for finance and regulatory reporting
One record, from the first baseline to the last site at end state.
Private LTE rollout phases, site by site
Every site in a utility private LTE program runs the same path. Across hundreds of sites, the time leaks between the steps, not in the work itself. Sitenna holds each step against the site, so nothing falls between them.
- Step 1
Baseline
Confirm what is on every site, and what data is missing.
- Step 2
Plan and cohort
Group sites by criticality and phase them across funding years.
- Step 3
Site and land
Secure new sites, or locate on existing utility land and structures.
- Step 4
Design
RF, structural and power design, with approvals tracked per site.
- Step 5
Build and upgrade
Construction, equipment installs and upgrades, crew by crew.
- Step 6
Integrate
Bring the site onto the network, test and commission.
- Step 7
Close-out
As-builts, documents and sign-off held on the site record.
- Step 8
End state
The site is live, documented and ready to run for decades.
Every kind of site work in one program
Most private LTE programs mix new build with work on the estate you already own. Sitenna runs all of it, end to end.
- New sitesSite acquisition, or new structures on existing utility land
- Upgrade existingAdd equipment and capacity to towers and substations you own
- Decommission and replaceRetire legacy radio and backhaul, and replace it site by site
- Bring to end stateEvery site to the same documented standard
- CollocationMake your towers available to others, if you choose to
The baseline is your business case
Utilities build a scope, capitalize it and take it to the ratepayer. A defensible case needs the estate as it really is, not as the spreadsheets say it is. No assumed numbers.
- Every site in scope, and its true condition
- The gaps: sites with no reliable data, flagged for survey
- What each site needs: new build, upgrade, or decommission and replace
- Cohorts ranked by criticality
- A capex profile you can defend, year by year
Running on live utility and private network programs
The same platform runs substation security, fiber and other utility capital programs, so the private LTE program sits alongside the rest of the estate.
Private LTE questions utility teams ask us
Something we have not covered? Email the team.
What is private LTE for utilities?
A private LTE (PLTE) network is a cellular network a utility owns and controls, usually on licensed spectrum such as 900 MHz broadband or on shared spectrum such as CBRS. It carries grid communications such as smart meters and AMI, SCADA and distribution automation, field crew voice and data, and substation security and video, on infrastructure the utility runs itself rather than a commercial carrier network.
Why are utilities building private LTE networks now?
The grid is becoming distributed, with scattered generation, storage and far more devices to connect and control. Utilities want a network they own and can defend, that stays up when others fail, and that can grow with grid modernization over the decades their spectrum is licensed for.
How long does a utility private LTE rollout take?
Most utility private LTE rollouts run for several years. Sites are baselined, grouped into cohorts by criticality and phased across funding cycles, often three to ten years from the first baseline to every site reaching its end state.
How do you manage hundreds of private LTE sites at once?
Start from one baseline of every site and asset, group sites into cohorts by criticality, then run milestones, tasks and schedules per site with every internal team and contractor working from the same record. Progress by site, cohort and contractor is reported live rather than pieced together after the fact.
Does Sitenna depend on a particular RAN vendor or spectrum band?
No. Sitenna runs the program, not the radio. It works with whichever spectrum, RAN vendor and systems integrator the utility chooses.
Can contractors and integrators work in Sitenna?
Yes. Contractors and partners get secure access to the sites, tasks and documents they are working on, so internal teams and outside partners work from the same program record.
Is there a mobile app for field crews?
There is no separate app to roll out. Field teams use Sitenna on a tablet in the browser, or answer data requests sent to them by email.
How quickly can a utility get started?
Teams go live in weeks, not months. One private network program was live in three days, with more than 50 sites planned in six weeks.
See a private LTE program running
A live, pre-built utility program in Sitenna, from baseline to end state. Thirty minutes. No setup, and no data to prepare.
Or email sales@sitenna.com