CBRS

Commissioners approved 4-0 an item that moves the agency closer to a 3.45-3.55 GHz 5G auction starting in early October. A notice proposes a standard FCC auction, similar to the C-band auction, rather than one based on sharing and rules similar to those in the citizens broadband radio service band. The draft public notice got several tweaks, as expected, including offering 10 MHz rather than 20 MHz blocks, but keeps larger partial economic area-sized licenses (see 2103150052). Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington concurred on parts of the order because of lingering concerns.

The FCC OK'd priority access licenses for 222 of the 255 bidders in the citizens broadband radio service auction. The approved long-form applications cover 17,450 licenses, the FCC said Friday. The auction ended in August with total bids of $4.59 billion (see 2008260055). Verizon and major cable operators dominated, and Dish Network came in big (see 2009020057). Long-form applications were due Sept. 17. “Five years ago, this agency recognized that our traditional spectrum auctions needed an update -- and that the 3.5 GHz band was the perfect place to start,” said acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel: “We continue to make progress in implementing the 3.5 GHz band concept and further demonstrate US leadership in spectrum innovation.”

Citizens broadband radio service band use is accelerating, and Verizon is using the band in 70 metropolitan areas, RootMetrics reported Thursday, detecting no use by AT&T or T-Mobile. “CBRS spectrum will play an important role in the mobile network marketplace, boosting capacity for both 4G LTE and 5G networks in highly populated areas,” RootMetrics said. Main uses are for wireless capacity in urban markets, rural fixed broadband and private wireless networks, the report said.

Executives defended Verizon’s decision to go big in the C-band auction during an investor day presentation Wednesday. They pegged the total buy at $52.9 billion, including clearing costs. Verizon has been trying to add midband to counter T-Mobile, with its extensive 2.5 GHz holdings (see 2102250046). AT&T, the second-biggest bidder, has an analyst day Friday.

Dell’Oro Group sees a slightly less rosy outlook for the citizens broadband radio service band, forecasting $2 billion in investments between last year and 2025, said a Friday report. Fixed wireless and network capacity augmentation dominate investments, the report said. “We remain optimistic about the CBRS opportunity, but we have revised the outlook downward over the near-term to reflect the slower than expected CBRS uptake,” said Stefan Pongratz, vice president-analyst: “This downward adjustment does not change the long-term vision -- we continue to believe that there is an opportunity to improve spectrum utilization while at the same time stimulating innovation for both public and private networks across various industry segments.”

NCTA and its members urged adopting 3.45-3.55 GHz rules consistent with those in the citizens broadband radio service band, in a call with FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology staff. “NCTA noted the successful outcome of the 3.5 GHz CBRS auction, and the role that the service rules for that band played in attracting a diversity of auction participants … and encouraging the widespread deployment of the spectrum,” said Tuesday's posting​​​​​​​ in docket 19-348. Charter Communications, Comcast, Cox and CableLabs participated.

Charter Communications ended 2020 with 19,000 more video customers than it had a year earlier, and it expects to do better in its video trends this year than the MVPD industry overall, CEO Tom Rutledge said during an analyst call Friday as the company announced Q4 results. Rutledge said the growth was driven in part by its broadband connectivity growth. He said industry growth will continue to decline "at a moderate pace," while Charter "won't have quite the internet growth … we had in 2020." Charter ended 2020 with 15.6 million residential video subscribers. It also ended the year with 27 million residential broadband subs, up 2.1 million year over year; 9.2 million residential voice subs, down 228,000; and 2.3 million residential mobile subscriptions, up 1.2 million. Rutledge said this year should have a return to pre-pandemic trends in internet subscriber additions, plus a full recovery of the advertising business as the economy also fully rebounds. He said that during Q4, Charter's minimum broadband speed offering of 200 Mbps went from being available in about 60% of its footprint to 75%. Rutledge said the 210 citizens broadband radio service priority access licenses that Charter bought for $465 million will be used on targeted 5G small cells. He said that over the next four to five years, up to a third of Charter's traffic might end up on the CBRS spectrum. The stock closed down 7.2% at $607.56.

The CBRS Alliance is expanding its focus beyond the citizens broadband radio service band and is now the OnGo Alliance. The group will look at 3rd Generation Partnership Project “technologies operating in shared spectrum bands around the globe.” The FCC, NTIA and DOD “are actively considering other bands for sharing,” said Executive Director Alan Ewing: “Additionally, the Alliance is being contacted by international organizations that would like to engage and become affiliated.”

Google urged the FCC to move forward on an incumbent-informing spectrum sharing system operated by DOD for the citizens broadband radio service and adjacent 3.45-3.55 GHz band. “Such a system would notify authorized non-government users when they need to temporarily cease commercial operations in all or portions of the 3.45-3.55 GHz band to protect government operations” and would “avoid spectrum waste” inherent in the environmental sensing capability framework used in CBRS, said a filing posted Friday in docket 19-348.

The Wireless Infrastructure Association said Wednesday it offers certification for citizens broadband radio service professional installers.