CBRS Taking Shape With Companies Testing Business Models

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.

Some companies want their own plug-and-play networks and others a hybrid network or a network managed by another firm, said Robert Boyanovsky, AT&T Business vice president-mobility and IoT. Businesses have been “kicking the tires” for some time on private wireless networks but haven’t been clear on what they were looking for, Boyanovsky said. “It does boil down to privacy, control and security.” Companies “can control their data, and that’s the No. 1 thing we get asked about when talking to customers,” he said: Technology has to be “really, really easy” and “quick to install.”

Companies used to have two choices -- service from a carrier or Wi-Fi, said Preston Marshall, Google engineering director. “With CBRS, we’ve opened up almost a continuum of options,” he said. “That’s part of the excitement.” Some want to launch a stand-alone network, others a turnkey system, he said. “I don’t think we should be looking to say, ‘We know the answer now’ or we should be unhappy because the community hasn’t found the one” solution, he said. Companies will “kind of converge” on models that work the best, he said: “What we’re going through is kind of a search.”

Marshall counseled patience: “It’s good to see these options explored.”

Federated Wireless recently received a DOD grant to examine 5G smart warehouses, automating a Marine Corps base in Albany, Georgia, said Kurt Schaubach, chief technology officer. Schaubach said CBRS is being deployed in warehouses and factories, with more deployments in the works.

DOD is trying to “look at how they can make the investments in 5G to provide secure, hardened solutions that meet the needs of our U.S. armed forces, in achieving that extra layer of security, the extra performance that you can’t do with things like Wi-Fi,” Schaubach said. “We are going to be supporting a number of new 5G IoT applications,” including RFID tagging and automation of moving supplies around warehouses, he said: “This will serve as a template for all sorts of future applications with the DOD.”

Stores and restaurants have had to change how they do business in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic and are using CBRS for communications as more customers rely on pickup, Schaubach said. Wi-Fi isn’t robust enough, and trenching fiber is “very time-consuming, very costly,” he said. Hospitals are shifting traffic from Wi-Fi to a private CBRS network, he said: It leaves the Wi-Fi network clear for use by patients and their friends and families.

Business models can “coexist," and no single use case is likely to emerge, said Shubh Agarwal, senior vice president-5G solutions at Microsoft's Metaswitch. Decades in, the enterprise market is “highly fragmented,” he said: “Enterprises will determine what business model and what level of simplicity they want.” One of the main benefits of having a neutral host is it allows service from major carriers and from competitors including cable operators and virtual network operators, said Murat Erkam, Crown Castle director-technology strategy.

Speakers discussed whether companies need priority access licenses sold by the FCC in the recent auction to take full advantage of CBRS or if they can rely on the general authorized access tier. “It depends on what the business outcome and bandwidth requirements are,” Boyanovsky said.

“You have to look at where are you operating,” Marshall said. Terrain makes the difference, he said. With trees and buildings, “if you are a block away from someone, you are in your own world, and you shouldn’t be afraid to use GAA,” he said. “This band is a very local, micro-neighborhood band.”