Questions Remain Who Will Buy CBRS Spectrum, How It Will Be Used, O'Rielly Says

There's widespread interest in the citizens broadband radio service auction, but it’s not clear who will pursue licenses or how they will be used, Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said during a FierceWireless webinar Monday. The FCC faced pressure to delay the start of the auction July 23 because of credit market jitters tied to COVID-19 (see 2005140050). “The insatiable demand” for mid-band spectrum “is only going to increase over time,” he said.

O’Rielly was asked about estimates the CBRS auction could raise as much as $4 billion. He heard the same numbers and just hoped it will raise as much as possible for the Treasury. He noted the “current market environment” could change how much the auction brings in. “My only hope here is that it raises more” than the $108 million required to close the auction, he said. Reauction isn’t likely. Under the FCC's rules, the unsold spectrum converts to general authorized access (GAA) use, he said.

O’Rielly is “excited” about the C-band auction. “It’s the premier band for 5G” in the U.S., he said: “I’m really interested in seeing that happen in December and not be pushed off.” The CBRS is “a little different to start with” with lower power limits and sharing requirements, he said. CBRS offers an opportunity to get licenses “that may be not as highly fought over; we’re just going to have to see if that is the case,” he said. There will be an opportunity for the FCC to reexamine power levels, working with DOD, he said.

O’Rielly said he didn’t sign a form giving him access to confidential information on the auction. “I want to prevent myself from causing any harm and saying something inappropriate,” he said. The “beauty” of the process is it determines who can best utilize the spectrum, he said. Which carriers will bid is unclear, he said: “I’ve heard great interest from all wireless providers.”

As to how the band will be used, “we’re just going to have to see how that plays out over time, who will win licenses and see how many are taken,” O'Rielly said. CBRS could be used for wireless backhaul or offloading traffic and could be used differently depending on needs, he said. “It’s very functional. The licenses are interchangeable. There’s many available in each market” and it can be combined with GAA, which is already operational (see 2001270025).

“We have some work to do on mid-band,” and CBRS can be “part of that toolbox,” said 5G Americas President Chris Pearson.

Opening the band “has taken a long time,” but tens of thousands of devices have already been deployed, said Stephen Rayment, Ericsson vice president-technology solutions. “It has been a good experience so far,” he said: “All parts of the ecosystem are really starting to come together.” Providers will use the CBRS spectrum to augment other bands, and the power levels allow transmissions of more than a kilometer, he said. Cable operators are interested in offloading traffic using small cells, he said. Fixed wireless is another use in areas where wireline can’t be deployed, he said. CBRS can be used indoors for high throughput, sometimes aggregated with other bands, Rayment said: “It performs very well, relative to Wi-Fi” for applications that need robust connections.

Wireless ISP Association members are using 50 MHz of the 3.5 GHz spectrum, said WISPA President Claude Aiken. CBRS “provides an extension of that opportunity to expand the amount of usable spectrum and be able to obtain access to come protected spectrum,” he said. The main use case for WISPs will be to offer “medium- to longer-range” fixed wireless, he said. The current best way to provide last-mile access to the home is through cable or fiber, said Michael Scardina, director-network strategies and technologies at cable operator Armstrong Group: CBRS opens up “kind of a cool opportunity” for wireless connections.