Wireless ISPs are expected to drive deployment of priority access licenses in the citizens broadband radio service band, likely being the first to deploy after the FCC finishes assigning licenses from the PAL auction that ended Aug. 25. Some larger auction bidders are starting to lay out plans. Experts and others said in interviews that auction winners will likely start to use their licenses in Q1, after the FCC finalizes channel assignments and conveys the licenses.
CBRS
The Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is designated unlicensed spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band created by the FCC as part of an effort to allow for shared federal and non-federal use of the band.
Alaska Communications Systems' $300 million purchase by Macquarie Capital and GCM Grosvenor should close in the second half of 2021 (also see personals section, this issue), CEO Bill Bishop noted on a call Thursday: The deal needs regulatory OK. ACS Chairman Dave Karp said the takeover should mean more resources for operations. Q3 revenue was $60.5 million, up 2.3% year over year. ACS said it completed its subsea fiber network upgrade and is in the midst of deploying fiber for 5G backhaul, while fiber to the home remains a priority. Bishop said the spectrum bought in the FCC citizens broadband radio service auction covers more than 40% of the population of the state and would be used for broadband delivery.
Verizon is betting big on dynamic spectrum sharing technology, which allows 5G to run simultaneously with 4G on multiple spectrum bands, Chief Technology Officer Kyle Malady said at the GSMA/CTIA Thrive virtual conference Wednesday. Malady also stressed the importance of the new 5G iPhone.
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.
NTIA, working with DOD, is pushing ahead on a spectrum sharing system going beyond what's possible in the nascent citizens broadband radio service, said Charles Cooper, associate administrator of the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management, at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference Friday. NTIA is tentatively calling it “incumbent informing capability,” or ICC, and it’s being developed in coordination with the Defense Information Systems Agency, he said.
The citizens broadband radio service offers “bandwidth abundance,” said Preston Marshall, principal wireless architect for Google Wireless, during an Enterprise Wireless Alliance virtual conference Thursday. He's surprised about how fast the band's use has grown despite the pandemic and the amount of interest in private LTE. “It was developed, supported by the cellular industry,” he said: “It’s available to you” and you can buy equipment off the shelf. You can deploy “very rapidly” without “having to develop your own unique, proprietary hardware,” he said. Marshall predicted CBRS will be widely used by startups. “You can start small and you can grow,” he said. The cost of spectrum has “been an obstacle” because it was expensive, he said. Obstacles remain, he said. “We still need to work on how we create seamless roaming and authentication between operators,” he said. “The business models are still evolving -- who pays for what, how much do they pay, what are the methods of managing these transactions," he said. Further work remains on coexistence in a shared band, he said. Equipment makers also need to include the band in more handsets, he said. Mark Gibson, Commscope senior director-business development and spectrum policy, said the biggest surprise was the $4.6 billion raised in the CBRS auction, with more bidders than any previous FCC auctions. Big players like Verizon and Dish Network dominated the auction (see 2009020057), but the cheapest licenses went for as little as $1,100, he noted. It’s “the people’s band” with wireless ISPs and electric utilities bidding in their first spectrum auction, he said.
Sony, a spectrum access system operator in the citizens broadband radio service band, asked the FCC to approve it as an environmental sensing capability provider, in a Wednesday posting in docket 15-319. Parts were redacted.
The FCC doesn’t “really believe” public safety agencies will ever leave the 470-512 MHz T band, despite the 2012 Spectrum Act's mandate, Enterprise Wireless Alliance Regulatory Counsel Elizabeth Sachs told the EWA’s virtual wireless leadership summit Wednesday. Congress “adopted legislation without really understanding what it meant or who was involved or what the impact would be,” said Sachs, of Lukas LaFuria.
FCC Chief of Staff Matthew Berry and a top CTIA official downplayed reports the Trump administration is pushing the Pentagon to move forward on developing a national 5G network. The wireless industry sent a letter to President Donald Trump Tuesday opposing efforts to nationalize 5G network infrastructure. Berry and Scott Bergmann, CTIA senior vice president-regulatory affairs, spoke Monday at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference. DOD isn’t planning to launch a competitive 5G network, Fred Moorefield, deputy chief information officer-command, control and communications, said at an FCBA virtual conference Tuesday. Moorefield said he had seen the reports on the White House push but couldn't confirm them.
The FCC made major changes to its draft 4.9 GHz order after it was circulated by Chairman Ajit Pai, based on our comparison. Commissioners last week approved the order on a party-line vote (see 2009300050). It now includes a section blocking states that divert 911 funds from participating. The FCC will make the cut, initially, based on the 2019 fee diversion report. Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and West Virginia are initially ineligible. A comparison of the draft and final order and Further NPRM on 5G in 3.45-3.55 GHz also found changes.