GatesAir widens AirWatch365 with data from 18 U.S. beta sites

By Rebecca Stone

GatesAir is collecting operational data from 18 U.S. television and FM radio transmitter sites to refine AirWatch365, its managed monitoring service, before broader commercial adoption.

AirWatch365 is available worldwide for TV, FM and DAB/DAB+ radio transmission systems. The service provides continuous transmitter monitoring and diagnostic support through GatesAir’s 24/7 Network Operations Center.

Its remit extends beyond radio-only tools: centralized monitoring, analytics and RF expertise combine to help broadcasters identify developing problems, accelerate troubleshooting and improve the reliability of distributed transmission networks, according to GatesAir.

The 18-site U.S. beta gives the vendor operational experience across different installations. The announcement names no participating broadcasters, measured improvements, prices or timetable for wider adoption.

What has GatesAir added to AirWatch365?

GatesAir introduced the AirWatch365 Edge Gateway at NAB Show 2026. The on-premises appliance collects and normalizes operational data from transmitters and associated infrastructure. Since that introduction, GatesAir has expanded the underlying monitoring architecture to accommodate different customer IT and network-security requirements.

A new fleet performance dashboard gives GatesAir specialists a centralized view of transmitter health and performance. It offers nationwide, regional and individual-site views, with drill-down from an entire fleet into specific systems and components. Read-only customer access remains under development.

New reporting tools can quickly generate transmitter health reports from accumulated operational data. The reports will support incident response and quarterly performance summaries, giving broadcasters immediate diagnostic information alongside a longer-term view of transmitter health.

GatesAir has also added a weather overlay to the fleet dashboard. It visualizes weather patterns in relation to transmitter locations, giving specialists additional context when investigating incidents and associating transmitter events with severe weather or changing environmental conditions.

How does AirWatch365 connect to customer networks?

GatesAir has refined its network connections and now offers architectural options that place AirWatch365 inside or outside a customer firewall, depending on IT requirements.

Under the inside-the-firewall option, transmitter data and log files flow automatically into the monitoring environment without manual intervention. Outside the firewall, the Edge Gateway remains beyond the protected network. The architecture can securely relay telemetry from inside the customer network to the gateway without giving GatesAir direct access to the transmitter or internal network.

That separation limits direct access, but it does not establish the strength of the underlying security controls. The announcement describes no encryption, authentication or relay-ownership arrangements, so customers would still need to assess those protections themselves.

Can low bandwidth widen the service’s reach?

Real-world testing has allowed GatesAir to validate the service’s bandwidth needs. GatesAir says AirWatch365 requires “very little data throughput,” opening monitoring options for remote transmitter and translator sites with limited connectivity. In some cases, basic cellular connectivity provides sufficient bandwidth for data collection.

The announcement gives no minimum data rate, latency target or cellular coverage threshold. “Basic cellular” therefore remains an imprecise deployment condition, not a quantified service guarantee.

What will AI-assisted diagnostics add?

With a growing volume of operational information, GatesAir applies AI-assisted analysis to transmitter alarms and data. The company says the technology can help its service team interpret events and identify potential root causes more efficiently. It can translate engineering-oriented alarm information into more accessible diagnostic guidance while considering related transmitter parameters and historical information.

No figures for fault-detection accuracy, validation performance or analyst time saved accompany that claim. The wording places the service team in the loop, but GatesAir does not disclose the models, testing method or degree of automation. Further service information is available at www.gatesair.com/services/gatesair-care.

What remains to be proved?

The immediate commercial test is whether data from 18 sites can support reliable diagnosis across TV, FM and DAB/DAB+ systems and different customer network policies, rather than merely demonstrate that operational data can be collected. GatesAir discloses no rollout date, pricing plan or investment figure for a larger deployment.

The next checkpoint is broader commercial adoption of the enhanced service, with fault-detection results and deployment targets needed to judge the upgrade; no rollout schedule accompanies the announcement.