Competitive Carriers Want CBRS Licenses, Still Developing Strategy on High-Band Auctions

ORLANDO -- Smaller providers at the Competitive Carriers Association are likely to pursue priority access licenses in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band when they become available, as early as next year, based on interviews at CCA’s meeting. They are more dubious on the outlook for high-band spectrum in their mostly rural markets. Attendees expect a PALs auction as early as the last quarter of 2019, though maybe not until early 2020.

The biggest topic at the show, which ended Wednesday, was 5G, especially with the national carriers starting to launch 5G offerings. CBRS also got a lot of attention, particularly with the current focus on midband spectrum. Commissioners will consider an order Oct. 23 revising the rules for the CBRS spectrum (see 1810020050). The FCC’s first millimeter-wave spectrum auction, of 28 GHz followed by 24 GHz bands, starts Nov. 14 (see 1809180056). Bidders are in the pre-auction “quiet period.”

Many CCA members have a slice of the 24 or 28 GHz bands, President Steve Berry told us. “If it’s already in your portfolio, you want to make sure that you’re able to deploy whatever those new 5G services are going to be,” he said. “There’s a lot of interest” in the bands, Berry said. They are “the first thing out of the box.”

CCA has filed with CTIA urging larger PALs in the 3.5 GHz band (see 1804240067), Berry noted. County-sized licenses are good for both large and small CCA members, he said. Interest is high because of all the equipment being built, he said. “You’re going to have the opportunity to immediately go to market,” he said. “There are going to be plenty of devices available at reasonable costs.”

Competitive carriers are interested in all bands, said Michael Prior, CEO of ATN International. “When a new spectrum band opens up, it’s rare that it hasn’t proven to be important and valuable,” Prior told us. “Naysayers” note high-band spectrum can’t penetrate buildings and is useful only over short distances, he said. The “flip side” is lots of capacity with low latency, he said. “Some spectrum is not going to be appropriate for some areas, which has always been the case.”

Prior sees CBRS “as even more exciting,” especially since it will be partially available for unlicensed use. “There’s a ton of fallow spectrum,” he said. Big carriers “buy big licenses and then it’s dictated by economics how they roll out," he said.

Smaller carriers “are sniffing around” on high-band spectrum, said Jason Hill, MVP Capital managing partner. “It’s hard to read whether the smaller guys are going to play in it in a big way.” Hill is trying to get a sense of how many will bid in the 28 GHz auction. “You always have to show up at an auction to see what happens,” he said. “I think they’re trying to figure out what the plan is, who’s going to support the equipment. … 'Do I actually need it? Do I cell-split instead of buying this band.'” It’s not like the PCS band in the early 2000s “where you knew everybody was going to show up and try to get it,” Hill said.

Almost everyone is interested in CBRS spectrum, Hill said. Those from tower and small-cell companies to cable operators are looking at the 3.5 GHz band, he said. “Everyone loves the midband” if equipment will keep the costs down, he said.

The high-band spectrum will be good for “specialized use cases,” said Lee Thibaudeau, Nsight chief technology officer. “It would be a long time before we would see a 28 GHz deployment across our entire network footprint,” he said. “In subdivisions, in business parks, in campus environments, it could be a significant player for things like fixed wireless.”

Places like rural football stadiums may see high-band applications, said David Zylka, Carolina West Wireless CTO. “It’s not coming anytime soon to rural America -- three to five years maybe for us, if that,” Zylka said. “What I see as the sweet spot for us is the 3.5, the midband spectrum, where it plays a little better with our topography and our population density.” For smaller carriers, there's “noise” around the upcoming auction, he noted.

“I don’t think any of us can afford to blaze any trails” on the high band, said Ken Borner, ATN senior vice president-engineering. “You kind of just have to wait for it, for the opportune time,” he said. “It’s all about timing and letting the technology catch up.”