Siemens and Federated Wireless unveiled a partnership Tuesday to develop shared spectrum solutions for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. The partnership will make Siemens one of the first companies to use a spectrum access system and environmental sensing capability being developed by Federated, the companies said in a news release. Both must still be approved by the FCC. “Siemens is dedicated to serving all of its critical infrastructure customer segments by ensuring early compliance with the new FCC CBRS rules,” said Jeremy Bryant, Siemens business segment manager. Siemens already offers broadband products that use the 3.65 GHz band, which are required to transition to the new CBRS rules, the companies said. “During the transition period to the new CBRS rules, existing users will also receive protection from radio frequency interference due to the new users of the band if they register their sites with the CBRS database administrator and secure a protection zone for their grandfathered operations.”
The outlook for the 3.5 GHz band, and whether it will attract carrier interest, remain unclear more than three years after the FCC approved the initial rulemaking notice in December 2012 (see 1604280062). Some industry lawyers say carriers are unlikely to play an active role in the band mainly because of the limits placed on the priority access licenses (PALs) to be sold by the FCC as one part of the experiment in sharing. But other observers predict a more positive outcome given the number of carriers that have taken part in the Wireless Innovation Forum’s work on the band.
A report and order on the 3.5 GHz shared band takes the final steps toward establishing rules for the band, the FCC said in the order, approved Thursday (see 1604280062) and released Monday. “Facing ever-increasing demands of wireless innovation and constrained availability of clear sources of spectrum, the Citizens Broadband Radio Service is an opportunity to add much-needed capacity through innovative sharing,” the FCC said. “With this Second Order, we finalize the regulatory scheme we created in 2015, putting in place the last rules necessary for this service to become commercially available.” The order explains why the FCC rejected a request by CTIA that the agency provide license terms of five, rather than three, years for priority access licenses (PALs). Three-year license terms “already [reflect] a balance among parties that advocated for short license terms and those that prefer longer terms,” the FCC said, saying the original rules were for one-year licenses. “Based on the record, we instead adopted a longer, three-year license term and allowed applicants to apply for two consecutive terms, during the first applications window, for a total of six years,” the FCC said. “We continue to believe that ‘three-year non-renewable license terms -- with the ability to aggregate up to six years up-front -- strike a balance between some commenters’ desire for flexibility with other commenters’ need for certainty.’” The FCC said the three-year license terms are long enough to spur investment in the 3.5 GHz band. “Non-renewable, short-term licenses are an essential component of this overall framework,” the FCC said. “They allow operators to obtain PALs when and where Priority Access to the band is needed while permitting periodic, market-based reassignment of these rights in response to changes in local conditions and operator needs.”
The FCC tweaked rules for the 3.5 GHz shared band, approving changes circulated for a vote by commissioners in March (see 1603110083). Commissioner Mike O’Rielly dissented in part, questioning whether the changes will make the band commercially viable. The FCC approved the initial 3.5 GHz NPRM in 2012 (see 1212130044), setting up an experimental three-tiered access and sharing model made up of federal and nonfederal incumbents, priority access licenses (PALs) and general authorized access users.
Google representatives supported CTIA’s request that the FCC reconsider out-of-band emissions limits for Citizens Band Radio Service devices, said a report on a meeting with Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. Making sure LTE devices “are available for the 3.5 GHz band” and making the devices “more readily usable for CBRS will speed and lower the cost of CBRS deployments,” Google said. “Google’s propagation testing indicates the OOBE requirements can be relaxed as proposed by CTIA without material increased risk of harmful interference.” CTIA argued (see 1604140036) that addressing OOBE limits in the shared spectrum band, 20 MHz-wide channels and less-restrictive power levels are key to making it “economically viable” and will set the CBRS "on a better path towards meaningful investment, innovation, and deployment.” The filing was posted Thursday in docket 12-354.
Google supports CTIA’s request that the FCC reconsider out-of-band emissions (OOBE) limits for Citizens Band Radio Service devices in the 3.5 GHz band, Google representatives said in a series of meetings at the FCC. Google met with Commissioners Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai, and aides to the other commissioners, said a filing in docket 12-354. ”Google representatives noted current interest being shown in CBRS by wireless carriers, equipment manufacturers, and chip suppliers, as well as the productive role the Wireless Innovation Forum (WinnForum) is playing in developing consensus among a large and diverse group of CBRS stakeholders,” Google said. There are now 55 organizations developing 3.5 GHz band standards within the WinnForum’s Spectrum Sharing Committee, Google said. Google’s propagation testing shows OOBE requirements “can be relaxed as proposed by CTIA without material increased risk of harmful interference,” the company said. WinnForum members including Google also lobbied the FCC recently on CBRS (see 1604050019).
The Wireless Innovation Forum told the FCC that the WIF Spectrum Sharing Committee is recommending changes to an FCC proposal for rules for the protected contours for grandfathered licensees in the 3.5 GHz band as the FCC launches the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). The task force’s “general consensus” is that the commission’s proposed two-pronged approach “is not sufficiently effective at protecting” wireless ISP operations and may block CBRS deployments. “This approach does not, for example, explicitly take into account protection of [wireless Internet service providers] base stations, which are typically mounted at high sites with good visibility to surrounding areas,” the forum said. “In this case, the FCC’s implicit assumption that the received signal strength at the base station from a CBRS device outside a boundary must be less than the signal strength at the boundary is not necessarily correct.” The comments were posted in docket 12-354.
The power and out-of-band emissions limits in FCC rules for the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band are a nonstarter, representatives of the Wireless Innovation Forum’s Spectrum Sharing Committee told officials of the Office of Engineering and Technology in a meeting, said a filing posted Monday in docket 12-354. A wide group of industry companies was represented, including Alcatel-Lucent, AT&T, Federated Wireless, Google, Motorola Solutions, Nokia Networks, Qualcomm and Verizon. Among the FCC officials at the meeting was OET Chief Julius Knapp. Achieving the power and emissions limits in the rules “will require so much power back off as to render the devices virtually unusable,” the filing said. “After additional review, the diverse set of organizations participating in this filing agree that the required measurement procedure is a major impediment to fulfilling the promise of Part 96.” The companies also said no other licensed mobile broadband service is subject to similar requirements and the rules “do not properly reflect the impact of aggregate interference.” It's likely other wideband systems, including Wi-Fi and WiMAX, will be unable to meet the emissions limits, the companies said. The commission approved creating the new Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) in the 3550-3700 MHz band at its April meeting, after years of debate (see 1504170055). CTIA earlier sought changes to the power and emissions limits in the rules (see 1510210020). The Satellite Industry Association opposed many of the changes sought by CTIA and others, saying they're an interference risk to fixed satellite service earth station use of the spectrum (see 1510200061).
CTIA and the Satellite Industry Association clashed on protections for satellite operators in the 3.5 GHz band as the band is converted to a shared use regime. The commission approved an order creating the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) in the 3550-3700 MHz band at its April meeting, but parts are still being debated (see 1504170055). In the latest development, various commenters offered their take on petitions for reconsideration challenging aspects of the agency’s rules. Comments were posted Friday in docket 12-354.
Wireless industry and tech companies rallied behind CTIA’s push for revised FCC rules for the 3.5 GHz shared spectrum band. The Satellite Industry Association opposed many of the changes sought by CTIA and others, saying they pose an interference risk to fixed satellite service earth station use of the spectrum (see 1510200061). Wireless industry commenters said the changes are necessary to make use of the band viable.