CBRS

The 6 GHz, citizens broadband radio service and C bands got much of the attention at the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance Global Summit Thursday. Another hot topic was CBRS-like sharing beyond the 3.5 GHz band. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly touched on all three bands during his keynote speech (see 1906270026).

The 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band is unlikely to play a big role in Wi-Fi and instead will provide the unlicensed component of 5G, Martha Suarez, new president of the Dynamic Spectrum Alliance, said in an interview. Suarez recently joined DSA after serving as general director of the National Spectrum Agency in Colombia. DSA’s global summit is this week in Washington.

CTIA, the Wireless Innovation Forum and Wireless ISP Association said the FCC should reject a petition by CallComm seeking reconsideration of the 2018 citizens broadband radio service order. The company, in docket 17-258, said the FCC failed to address the protected status of non-federal land mobile radiolocation licensees in the 3.5 GHz band. “Dismiss the Petition as untimely and substantively deficient,” CTIA asked: “The Petition does not identify a single issue raised or decided in the 2018 3.5 GHz Report and Order for purposes of reconsideration and instead amounts to an untimely petition for reconsideration of the Commission’s 2015 3.5 GHz Report and Order.” Due to its secondary status, CallComm “is not entitled to incumbency rights or interference protection with respect to primary services in the band, including the fixed and mobile allocations under which the [CBRS] operates,” the WinnForum said. WISPA also objected.

Google filed a report card on lab certification testing done on its citizens broadband radio service spectrum access system by the Commerce Department’s Institute for Telecommunications Sciences. The filing posted Thursday in FCC docket 15-319 asked that all the data be treated as confidential. It "constitutes highly sensitive commercial information that falls within Exemption 4 of the Freedom of Information Act," Google said: "Certain portions of the confidential information also implicate operational security concerns for the U.S. Navy."

Telecom and other groups opposed AT&T proposal to operate using higher power limits in parts of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. They "express, in the strongest of terms, their policy, operational, and legal objections to AT&T’s proposed" Category C antenna, said Tuesday's letter in FCC docket 17-258. The change would let CBRS devices operate at a maximum effective isotropic radiated power of 62 dBm/10 MHz, 31 times maximum EIRP now, the letter said. “On the verge of Initial Commercial Deployments and General Authorized Access use of the band, AT&T’s ‘questions concerning whether the Commission would entertain’ such a proposal should be met with a resounding ‘NO.’” Altice USA, the American Petroleum Institute, Frontier, Motorola Solutions, Windstream and Wireless ISP Association protested the AT&T request. The company didn’t comment.

While still hoping to see up to 300 MHz of the C band freed up for 5G use, FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly on Saturday said he's amenable to clearing 200 MHz now and a structure that sees more opened up in the future. He said at the FCBA annual retreat that his top priority is clearing the band as quickly as possible. Panels at the event in Hot Springs, Virginia, also covered topics ranging from cybersecurity to autonomous vehicles.

Ruckus Wireless received special temporary authority from the Office of Engineering and Technology to test citizens broadband radio service technology “prior to full FCC certification.” The tests will be in Sunnyvale, California, through Nov. 1. Sony, which hopes to be a spectrum access system operator in the band, also got OET permission to do tests of its systems in San Jose through Nov. 30.

NTIA highlighted work to make open the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, and wrapped up lab tests of spectrum access system vendors this week. It said the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences turns "to crafting test reports with a target of providing them to the vendors in June for their submission to the FCC.” This week, working with NTIA, the FCC cleared environmental sensing capability providers (see 1904300208). “These milestones give momentum to development of the 3.5 GHz band, which affords an excellent mix of capacity and coverage capabilities, defining characteristics of mid-band spectrum,” NTIA said Wednesday. Its Office of Spectrum Management and ITS worked together, the agency said: “From shrinking exclusion zones into smaller protection zones to designing the concept of dynamic protection areas to assisting the FCC in certifying the components of the spectrum sharing mechanism, it has been a long, complex process, but the light at the end of the tunnel is getting brighter.” Each radar detector had "to see thousands of low-power radar pulses successfully," blogged ITS Director Keith Gremban. "Detectors also had to keep functioning in the presence of high-power radar pulses that were equivalent to what you would see if you were just 6 miles from a radar transmitting a billion watts.”

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said at a Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance meeting Tuesday the 3.5 GHz band will likely be the first mid-band spectrum to come online for 5G, next year. “Left on the Commission’s plate to get CBRS fully operational is concluding the review and approval of the Spectrum Access Systems, or SAS, and Environmental Sensing Capability systems, commonly referred to as the ESC,” O’Rielly said. “I have been working with the leadership of the CBRS Alliance to help make sure this process stays on track. While some steps experienced unfortunate delays and this process has taken far longer than anyone would have liked, it appears to be nearing the end.” The FCC this week approved the first ESCs, he said. “I must admit that I never expected it to leapfrog ahead of the SAS testing and development process,” he said: “Unfortunately, the SAS testing is still in progress.” Monday, staff OK'd environmental sensing capabilities of CommScope, Federated Wireless and Google in the 3550-3650 MHz portion of the 3550-3700 MHz band. "These ESCs may operate in areas covered by registered and approved ESC sensors subject to ... compliance obligations," said the public notice.

There has been “significant progress” in the 3.5 GHz citizen broadband radio service, Federated Wireless said in a meeting with FCC Public Safety Bureau staff. Commercial deployment is “imminent” with “full commercial activities to follow,” Federated said in docket 07-100. The company discussed “potential benefits for protection of incumbents, increased spectrum access, and reduced equipment costs that dynamic sharing could bring to the 4.9 GHz band,” Monday's filing said.