The PlugFest Results Showcase is on hold until the COVID-19 pandemic has cleared. If necessary, we will reschedule the results reveal showcase for 3Q20.
The overall PlugFest schedule will continue to evolve as a result of COVID-19. We will act accordingly.
Our top concern is the health and safety of our community. We appreciate your understanding and support in this time.
Stay tuned for updates!
Registration has closed! If you are interested in applying for PlugFest, please join the waitlist and contact rnaus@telecominfraproject.com
Telecom Infra Project (TIP) is hosting a PlugFest focused on addressing the ultra-rural use case. A variety of individual technologies exist today that can be applied to rural sites, but deploying total solutions in rural sites and communities remains complicated and expensive. PlugFest brings vendors together to validate Total Site Solutions against a comprehensive test plan that are economically viable and can be easily deployed in the field.
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The Rural Site Configuration PlugFest is comprised of a six-week testing period (from April 13 through June 5) that will conclude with a two-day results showcase (Date TBD) where test results and best practices will be presented. The testing period has been extended to allow for greater efficiency and to protect the privacy of each Solutions Provider. Detailed testing of each configuration will take place during this time.
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If you are interested in participating in the PlugFest, please register on this page no later than March 31st at 5:00 pm PST!
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Each registrant will be contacted individually to ensure that their proposed participation will benefit the Rural Site Configuration use and business case.
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Further information about the use and business cases, as well as criteria for selection, will be presented during the PlugFest PG Member Calls on Wednesday, February 19th.
While a variety of individual technologies exist today that can be applied to rural sites, deploying solutions in ultra-rural communities is hard and expensive. Ultra-rural sites are difficult and costly to deploy, operate and maintain, given the low level of existing infrastructure. Deploying typical mobile services using urban cell sites are not economically sustainable in ultra-rural regions, primarily due to CAPEX and OPEX considerations and low average revenue per user (ARPU) in ultra-rural regions.
Starting with a use-case based approach, the Rural Site Configuration PlugFest is aiming at creating economically sustainable, and pre-tested rural site configurations focusing on rural requirements. These configurations leverage existing commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) products and passive elements (e.g. towers, fencing, concrete, etc.) catalyzing industry to connect more people in rural areas.
The tested Rural Site Configurations target greenfield deployments to off-grid populations of 1,000 to 3,000 people providing a "Town Center Model" for 4G with data and VoLTE coverage. With modest deployment volumes, a profitable business model is achievable.
This event will test how well RAN, satellite backhaul and power systems integrate in the end-to-end rural environment. System Integrators will have an opportunity to demonstrate their site commissioning capabilities during this rural configuration.
Once the six-week testing period concludes, PlugFest will showcase the results of the solutions tested while also sharing best practices for rural site solutions. Lastly, TIP Exchange badges will be awarded and testing configurations, test plans, playbooks, etc., are eligible for a listing on the TIP Exchange website.
The PlugFest event is hosted under the terms and conditions defined in the PlugFest project group Charter. You can view that Charter here. You must be a member of the Project Group in order for your registration to be accepted. If you are already a member of PlugFest Project Group, no action is necessary. If not, you will need to agree to the Project Group Charters and join the group here.
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Please contact Rebecca Naus if you need help with TIP or PlugFest membership.
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To ensure that that each solution is fully tested during the test period, the number of solutions will be limited. Registrants (Solution Providers and SI’s) will be contacted individually to ensure that they meet the Rural Site Solution criteria. Registration will be further contingent on membership in the PlugFest Project Group and TIP.
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PlugFest Participation Criteria
To ensure that that each solution is fully tested during the test period, the number of solutions will be limited. Registrants (Solution Providers and SI’s) will be contacted individually to ensure that they meet the Rural Site Configuration criteria after registration and prior to the beginning of the PlugFest.
The PlugFest will be conducted in a lab environment only open to those that have registered and that meet the criteria. During the testing period, information regarding the testing and the test plan will be shared among the participants only. Participants are expected to contribute information and details regarding their experience in the PlugFest to the project group Chair and other participants.
At the end of the testing period, the results and feedback will be collected and a summary of the testing and outcomes will be created and shared with the participants for review and approval prior to publication to the broader TIP community. Once finalized, the summary and other testing details may be shared with the broader TIP community on the TIP website and published under the TIP Document License which you can find here.