CBRS

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology OK'd updated CommScope and Google deployment and coverage plans for environmental sensing capability in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. The companies jointly provide ESC services, said Monday's public notice. Approval follows consultation with DOD and NTIA. Dynamic protection areas covered are East DPAs 2, 3 and 12-26, East Mayport and East Pascagoula Port in Florida and West Alameda, California.

LAS VEGAS -- This year will be one of “execution” on making more spectrum available for 5G and Wi-Fi, FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in an interview at CES. O’Rielly and Commissioners Geoffrey Starks and Brendan Carr spoke on a panel, after remarks by Chairman Ajit Pai. Pai wasn’t asked about and didn’t provide any additional details on the 6 GHz band or C band (see 2001070054).

Drones can safely use the 960-1164 MHz and 5030-5091 MHz bands if they use spectrum access system (SAS) technology like that employed in the citizens broadband radio service band (see 1912270039), Federated told the FCC. Federated is an approved SAS administrator for CBRS. “SAS technology … readily adapts to other frequency bands and can be leveraged to maximize spectrum utilization while implementing incumbent protections and priority access regimes that address the unique characteristics of each band,” Federated said in docket 19-356, posted Friday. This sharing regime is made possible because “SAS technology is built upon a dynamic cloud-based database that ... provides real-time coordination and manages access on a protected basis for priority users while simultaneously supporting coexistence among secondary users.”

It's difficult to gauge how the citizens broadband radio service launch has gone so far. In September, the FCC, in docket 15-319 cleared Amdocs, CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google and Sony to start initial commercial deployment (ICD) in the 3.5 GHz band, but the companies aren’t required to publicly report numbers. CBRS Alliance President Dave Wright of CommScope told us initial numbers are proprietary, but CBRS is moving forward as expected with full-scale launch imminent. “I continue to be extremely excited,” Wright said.

Oil and gas producer Oxy, and subsidiary Anadarko, asked the FCC to extend until Jan. 8, 2023, licenses that fall under the citizens broadband radio service transition. The licenses cover leases in New Mexico, Texas, Utah, Colorado and elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico. That date is when its last license expires, Oxy filed in docket 18-353. The companies “rely heavily on the 3650-3700 MHz band to provide critical monitoring and automation for oil and gas production systems,” Oxy said: “The 3650-3700 MHz networks that the Parties have operated on for the last nine years support telemetry and pipeline measurement data systems."

Commissioners approved an NPRM 5-0 on clearing 3.1-3.55 GHz, seen by some as a sleeper item with big implications. The item sparked a debate among members on whether the FCC is doing enough on mid-band spectrum. Senate Appropriations Financial Services Subcommittee Chairman John Kennedy, R-La., sat through 90 minutes of the meeting, signaling his ongoing concerns about setting rules for an upcoming auction of the 3.7-4.2 GHz C band.

WTA said it supports a request last year by the Wireless ISP Association and the Utilities Technology Council that the FCC waive requirements that 3650-3700 MHz licensees complete the transition to Part 96 citizens broadband radio service rules by April 17 (see 1812040002). “WTA did not participate during the earlier stages of this proceeding, but has recently become aware that some of its members have been using the … band to provide fixed wireless broadband service to significant numbers of their rural customers and that these members are not going to be able to conform their operations to the Part 96 CBRS rules” by the deadline, said a filing in docket 18-353, posted Tuesday.

The FCC may have to backtrack on proposed rules for the citizens broadband radio service band after getting essentially no support in the record for cellular market area-level bidding in June’s auction of priority access licenses (PALs). Only T-Mobile backed CMA-level bidding but not using the FCC-proposed scheme (see 1911130056). Commissioners approved a notice in September that proposes to allow bidding on a CMA-level basis, rather than just by counties, in the top 172 CMAs. Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Geoffrey Starks voted for the notice, though with reservations on CMA-level bidding (see 1909260040).

Federated Wireless demonstrated a fully functional automated frequency coordinator (AFC) prototype for unlicensed services in the citizens broadband radio service band "while ensuring protection of existing services,” said Chief Technology Officer Kurt Schaubach and others in FCC meetings. An AFC can “enable new unlicensed services in the 6 GHz band as quickly as possible.” Federated discussed “potential coexistence issues at the C-Band/CBRS band edge, and the opportunity to leverage automated spectrum access tools to accelerate deployment of new terrestrial broadband services in the C-Band,” said a filing in docket 17-258, posted Friday. Federated met aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly, Brendan Carr and Jessica Rosenworcel and Wireless Bureau and the Office of Engineering and Technology staff, it reported. "Industry has coalesced around the need for an AFC for a wide variety of use cases.”

The FCC got pushback on a proposal to allow license sizes larger than counties in the priority access licenses that will be sold to provide more protected use of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. Even larger carriers consider the plan flawed and sought changes. With a C-band auction looming, questions emerged on how likely carriers are to pursue the PALs during next June’s auction (see 1910170045). Many filings talked about the impact on rural areas and bidders.