CBRS

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 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 ended the citizens broadband radio service auction after the final bidding round Tuesday, with total bids of $4.585 billion, or just more than 21 cents MHz/POP. The auction offered the largest number of spectrum licenses ever in a single FCC auction and was the first FCC mid-band auction for 5G. Questions remain about who drove up the bids in the auction and the amount bid by wireless carriers, cable operators, Dish Network or companies planning to offer private networks. The next big mid-band auction of C-band spectrum starts Dec. 8.

MoffettNathanson’s Craig Moffett said wireless industry trends all tie back to a charging T-Mobile. “Whether it is Verizon buying spectrum, or the Cable operators attempting to reduce costs in order to (eventually) lower price, everyone is chasing T-Mobile,” Moffett told investors Wednesday: “Only three months into the merger, it is already becoming clear that T-Mobile is poised to pull away from an otherwise uninspiring wireless sector.” Moffett said cable operators, eager to cut their costs, are likely among the biggest bidders in the citizens broadband radio service auction. Based on numbers from BitPath, prices are as high as 91 cents MHz/POP in Orange, California, and 68 cents in San Diego, he said. “Cable needs CBRS to bring their costs down, particularly if they are to eventually have the ability to price competitively versus T-Mobile,” he said: “Verizon wants CBRS to augment their LTE network.”

The FCC remains concerned about receiver standards, Wireless Bureau Chief Donald Stockdale said at the virtual European Spectrum Management Conference Wednesday. Stockdale suggested the FCC do more to address the issue. Speakers on a second panel said Europe may not follow the U.S. in allocating the entire 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi and other unlicensed use, which the FCC did in April (see 2004230059).

The citizens broadband radio service auction, scheduled to start July 23, will likely be active, with bids from some that don’t normally play in FCC auctions, Wells Fargo’s Jennifer Fritzsche told investors. “Cables' interest here will be significant,” she predicted Tuesday: “The more spectrum cable [companies] actually own, the more traffic they can shift AWAY from the MVNO [mobile virtual network operator] network partner they used to carry … non-Wi-Fi traffic.” She noted Comcast and Charter were among potential bidders on the list released by the FCC (see 2006080048).

The Platforms for Advanced Wireless Research (PAWR) Project Office awarded $2.7 million to DOD for 5G research at a Salt Lake City testbed. The tests will demonstrate how two carriers can use spectrum in the same citizens broadband radio service channel “autonomously with the help of a decision engine designed to coordinate spectrum usage at a highly granular level,” PAWR said Wednesday.

There's growing interest in the citizens broadband radio service band, a FierceWireless webinar was told. Speakers from three of the five FCC-authorized spectrum access system administrators, CommScope, Federated Wireless and Google, said they're demonstrating CBRS will live up to the hype. It's “surprisingly successful, particularly considering the restraints of COVID,” said Preston Marshall, Google engineering director. “We’re doubling deployments … about every month,” he said: The “ecosystem” is growing. In three months, “we’ve completely moved past the question of does it work,” he said. “Spectrum underlying Wi-Fi isn’t the quality of spectrum underlying CBRS, and with that you can get predictability, high bandwidth, mobility, low latency, good outdoor coverage,” said Dustin LaMascus, Nokia head-business development, private wireless. One use is Nokia's solution for companies to take employee temperatures. Federated has more than 15,000 devices attached to its system, said Chief Technology Officer Kurt Schaubach. It's working with companies applying for licenses in the PALs auction. “We need to see more device penetration,” he said. Wi-Fi “keeps getting asked to do things … it really wasn’t designed to do,” said Steve Wimsatt, CommScope senior director-business development and alliances. “Wi-Fi is going to keep getting better, 5G is coming,” he said: “CBRS offers a unique solution” that “provides the reliability, the predictability of LTE.” The pandemic is accelerating the move to digital and automation, Schaubach said. “Our business certainly hasn’t slowed.” Future uses include all the things “coming with 5G,” like artificial intelligence and augmented and virtual reality, he said. He predicted strong interest in the PALs, including by service providers buying the licenses and offering managed networks for businesses.

Uncertainty remains about what COVID-19 will mean for AT&T and the wireless industry, Chief Financial Officer John Stephens said at a MoffettNathanson conference Tuesday. Speakers on a small-cells webinar said COVID-19 is adding to data growth and to the demand on carriers to densify their networks.