Our team is back on the rooftop at 10 South Almaden Boulevard in San Jose, California, to conduct a coexistence demonstration using the company’s 5G PNT Network and devices used by the security and alarm industry.
There have been concerns within the security and alarm industries that NextNav’s plan to use the lower 900 MHz band for 5G would interfere with devices like smoke detectors and panic buttons. NextNav has already addressed these concerns extensively in the FCC record, but sometimes there is no better evidence than seeing it for yourself.
Our real-world demonstration showed that 5G signals and alarm and security industry equipment can coexist seamlessly, without disruption or delay.
The team positioned gateways for a smoke and carbon monoxide detector and a panic button on the rooftop 20 feet away from the high-power 5G antenna. This demonstration exposed both gateways to a 5G signal stronger than these devices would ever encounter in real-world use. Yet, everything worked just as expected.
When triggered, the smoke and carbon monoxide detector instantly relayed the alert to the gateway and the monitoring application without a delay.
Once we turned to the panic button and took it into the office building, the story was the same. The panic button transmitted an alert from the 17th floor to the gateway on the rooftop without issue.
Everything worked, even with unrealistically high 5G signal levels.
This matters because the lower 900 MHz band already supports coexistence among multiple unlicensed technologies. Part 15 unlicensed devices will continue to operate across the entire 902 – 928 MHz band under NextNav’s proposal as they do today.
By optimizing the lower 900 MHz band, the FCC can enable a terrestrial, 5G-powered 3D PNT solution that can complement and backup GPS while allowing existing users to continue operating across the entire band.
Coexistence isn’t just possible. It’s proven. Any claims otherwise are a false alarm.