CBRS

The Edison Electric Institute supported the FCC’s proposal to open the 3.45-3.55 GHz band for flexible-use wireless services but said the FCC should adopt rules patterned on those in the adjacent citizens broadband radio service band. “Electric companies are undergoing increased demand for communications networks primarily because they are undertaking a process of grid modernization, which entails the increased use of automation and remote monitoring and control,” said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-348.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association said Wednesday it offers certification for citizens broadband radio service professional installers.

Reallocate the 3.45-3.55 GHz band based on flexible use rules, similar to those in the C band, CTIA told the FCC in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 19-348. Carriers offered similar advice, while others said sharing would mean faster use of the spectrum. Commissioners sought comment in a Further NPRM approved 5-0 in September (see 2009300034). “Action is essential to further promoting nationwide, full-power, wide-area 5G service, which will drive a dynamic 5G ecosystem across the United States,” CTIA said. The group opposed rules based on sharing in the citizens broadband radio service band: “While the CBRS framework shows promise and offers new opportunities, it is subject to lower power limits, a complex spectrum sharing scheme, and other technical limitations.” T-Mobile said CBRS-style sharing is “antithetical” to DOD’s process in making the band available. That process “determined that the spectrum can be cleared over the majority of the contiguous United States with targeted protections for federal users.” The FCC is well aware that “CBRS power levels and narrower channels would hamper development of the 3.45-3.55 GHz band as a true 5G band because the power levels are significantly lower than standard commercial wireless networks and the smaller channel sizes are not optimized for wide-bandwidth, low-latency 5G applications,” Verizon commented. View 3.45-3.55 GHz as a “first step toward making the entire 3.3-3.55 GHz band available for commercial flexible use,” the Competitive Carriers Association said. Federated Wireless argued for sharing. A sharing framework “is the only path to commercial use in the band that is fast, equitable, and supportive of a diverse set of use cases, leading to the most expeditious and intensive use of the band,” Federated said: “Extension of the CBRS sharing framework to the 3.45 GHz band will reduce coordination burdens on both federal and commercial users, while avoiding the interference problems that the vast majority of commenters predict will occur should the proposed rules be adopted.” The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance agreed: "Extending the existing CBRS framework would be the most expedient way to make this critical spectrum available for commercial 5G operations, rather than waiting for a more complicated and time-consuming clearing and auction process.” In the CBRS auction, 10 utilities submitted winning bids totaling more than $174 million for 371 priority access licenses, the Utilities Technology Council said. “Adopt county-based licenses and auction the licenses in 10 megahertz blocks, which will promote opportunities to build upon the success of the CBRS auction by enabling CBRS licensees to more easily combine their CBRS spectrum with the 3.45-3.55 GHz band.”

The FCC’s C-band auction opened Tuesday with $1.9 billion in bids after the initial two bidding rounds. The auction continues Wednesday with three rounds. Most observers are focused on Verizon and how much it bids as the major carrier with the least mid-band spectrum. The auction opened despite a late challenge from aviation interests raising interference concerns. Earlier in the day, a court ruled it won't intervene in related FCC activities (see 2012080020).

Wireless ISPs are expected to drive deployment of priority access licenses in the citizens broadband radio service band, likely being the first to deploy after the FCC finishes assigning licenses from the PAL auction that ended Aug. 25. Some larger auction bidders are starting to lay out plans. Experts and others said in interviews that auction winners will likely start to use their licenses in Q1, after the FCC finalizes channel assignments and conveys the licenses.

Alaska Communications Systems' $300 million purchase by Macquarie Capital and GCM Grosvenor should close in the second half of 2021 (also see personals section, this issue), CEO Bill Bishop noted on a call Thursday: The deal needs regulatory OK. ACS Chairman Dave Karp said the takeover should mean more resources for operations. Q3 revenue was $60.5 million, up 2.3% year over year. ACS said it completed its subsea fiber network upgrade and is in the midst of deploying fiber for 5G backhaul, while fiber to the home remains a priority. Bishop said the spectrum bought in the FCC citizens broadband radio service auction covers more than 40% of the population of the state and would be used for broadband delivery.

Verizon is betting big on dynamic spectrum sharing technology, which allows 5G to run simultaneously with 4G on multiple spectrum bands, Chief Technology Officer Kyle Malady said at the GSMA/CTIA Thrive virtual conference Wednesday. Malady also stressed the importance of the new 5G iPhone.

The ability of users to control their data and deploy a private network in days is a selling point for deployments in the citizens broadband radio service band, a Fierce Wireless webinar heard. Speakers Monday agreed it remains to be seen what CBRS form these private networks will take and how they will evolve.

NTIA, working with DOD, is pushing ahead on a spectrum sharing system going beyond what's possible in the nascent citizens broadband radio service, said Charles Cooper, associate administrator of the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management, at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference Friday. NTIA is tentatively calling it “incumbent informing capability,” or ICC, and it’s being developed in coordination with the Defense Information Systems Agency, he said.

The citizens broadband radio service offers “bandwidth abundance,” said Preston Marshall, principal wireless architect for Google Wireless, during an Enterprise Wireless Alliance virtual conference Thursday. He's surprised about how fast the band's use has grown despite the pandemic and the amount of interest in private LTE. “It was developed, supported by the cellular industry,” he said: “It’s available to you” and you can buy equipment off the shelf. You can deploy “very rapidly” without “having to develop your own unique, proprietary hardware,” he said. Marshall predicted CBRS will be widely used by startups. “You can start small and you can grow,” he said. The cost of spectrum has “been an obstacle” because it was expensive, he said. Obstacles remain, he said. “We still need to work on how we create seamless roaming and authentication between operators,” he said. “The business models are still evolving -- who pays for what, how much do they pay, what are the methods of managing these transactions," he said. Further work remains on coexistence in a shared band, he said. Equipment makers also need to include the band in more handsets, he said. Mark Gibson, Commscope senior director-business development and spectrum policy, said the biggest surprise was the $4.6 billion raised in the CBRS auction, with more bidders than any previous FCC auctions. Big players like Verizon and Dish Network dominated the auction (see 2009020057), but the cheapest licenses went for as little as $1,100, he noted. It’s “the people’s band” with wireless ISPs and electric utilities bidding in their first spectrum auction, he said.