CBRS

Verizon got FCC permission to run tests using the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band in Manhattan, Brooklyn and other locations in New York. “Field tests will be conducted in a production network, in a highly controlled field environment, in order to assist in the development of commercial products,” Verizon said. “The testing will benefit the public interest by enabling the pre-commercial testing of new products outside of a lab environment but in a controlled and managed manner.” Verizon said it wants to look at radio propagation characteristics of 3.5 GHz for outdoor installations, end-to-end CBRS architecture and of inter-band carrier aggregation between 3.5 GHz and licensed bands.

The FCC should tell Congress that it, the Navy and NTIA are “falling short of the expectations that were widely held” on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band when the Spectrum Pipeline Act became law Nov. 2, 2015, public interest groups told the FCC on two reports to Congress (see 1808100033), posted in docket 17-258 Wednesday. “Congress had every reason to believe” the band would be brought online quickly, the groups commented. “The sad fact is that in the waning months of 2018 there is far less to report back to Congress about the ‘results’ of the landmark CBRS framework than there reasonably should be.” The groups sought a quick FCC decision on sharing the 6 GHz band with unlicensed. “Adjacent to current Wi-Fi operations,” the band is “uniquely positioned to help build capacity for Wi-Fi networks as unlicensed, and Wi-Fi in particular, increases in importance as the connectivity of choice for mobile devices and local area networks.” The Open Technology Institute at New America, American Library Association, Consumer Federation of America, Consumers Union, National Hispanic Media Coalition and Public Knowledge were among signers. These frequencies are "a unique opportunity to significantly expand the nation’s unlicensed spectrum inventory by more than 1 Gigahertz,” said Apple, Broadcom, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Intel, Microsoft, Qualcomm and several others. “Opening this band is essential to addressing a growing unlicensed spectrum shortfall.” The Wi-Fi Alliance stressed the importance of the swath. “While new Wi-Fi devices are being introduced in the 5 GHz band, which is available for unlicensed operations, more mid-band spectrum is needed to meet the growing demand for data throughput capabilities offered by the next generation Wi-Fi,” the alliance said. “This spectrum shortfall has yet to be addressed.” The National Public Safety Telecommunications Council said it's “premature” to report on success or failure of the 3.5 GHz band. “Significant operation of CBRS devices is yet to occur,” NPSTC said. The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance said for CBRS to be a success, at least some priority access licenses (PALs) must be available in small geographic sizes. “Failure to do so would undermine CBRS’s promise as an innovation band, strand millions of dollars of investment already made in CBRS, and ‘rig the system’ in such a way that only those business models that prefer large license areas could acquire PALs,” the alliance said. Making the 6 GHz band available for unlicensed is also key since Wi-Fi carries more data than any other wireless technology, the alliance said.

Amdocs, CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google, Key Bridge Wireless and Sony filed in docket 15-319 proposals at the FCC to serve as the first spectrum access system (SAS) administrators in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. Ruckus and Fairspectrum earlier filed (see 1809100051). Federated said Monday it filed its proposal to make initial commercial deployment (ICD) in the band and to unveil a training program for certified professional installers of CBRS devices. “We have not only submitted our proposal to the FCC, we’ve done so on an astonishingly large scale, which underscores the scope of shared spectrum adoption in the wireless industry and signals true commercialization of the band right out of the gate,” blogged Federated CEO Iyad Tarazi. “It’s taken us five years to get here, and we’re not stopping now.” Google said its SAS can support service anywhere in the U.S. “For ICD, however, Google anticipates discrete deployments in various locations around the country,” the tech player said. “Locations will be selected based on the participants’ joint business interests, as well as on the need to protect Tier 1 incumbent systems.” Google said its different deployments will be used to test various conditions: “Deployment at one site may demonstrate protection of nearby [grandfathered wireless protection zones]. Deployment at another site may demonstrate protection of [fixed satellite service operators]. Yet another site may involve overlapping coverage with another SAS.”

In a key next step for the shared 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, the FCC Monday got proposals for initial commercial deployment (ICDs) by conditionally approved spectrum access system (SAS) administrators. By early evening, proposals were starting to trickle in, with the first two filed by Ruckus Networks Finland’s Fairspectrum in docket 15-319. Other filings were expected, including by some of the main companies that have made clear they plan to serve as SASs, including Amdocs, CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google and Sony.

The Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance met with FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly and staff from the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, with a CBRS update. “We detailed the Alliance’s continued membership growth, the launch of our OnGo brand and certification program, the formation of our new Deployment & Operations Working Group, the growth in our Authorized Test Labs (ATLs), the number of [devices] that have been submitted for certification, and our upcoming Interoperability Event,” the alliance said Wednesday in docket 15-319. Nine ATLs have been approved and 12 devices submitted for OnGo certification, the alliance said.

The FCC Office of Engineering and Technology signed off on Altice USA plans for a variety of both indoor and outdoor wireless citizens broadband radio service product trials in the 3.5 GHz band in anticipation of a planned mobile service to rollout in 2019. In applications for special temporary authority, approved last month, last week and Tuesday (see here, here and here), Altice said it plans testing for six months in the 3650-3700 MHz band in two sections of Long Island, New York, and in the 3550-3700 MHz band in Arkansas. CEO Dexter Goei, in an earnings call with analysts this month, said the CBRS testing "may be a good complementary capacity" to its own WiFi network and MVNO partner Sprint's network, as Altice remains on track to launch a mobile service in 2019. The company didn't comment Tuesday.

Using the shared 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band moved another step closer Monday, as the CBRS Alliance announced selection of the first eight labs to test equipment that will be used in the “OnGo” band. Gear must be able to “interoperate with other ecosystem components” and communicate with a spectrum access systems that will control the band as well as “operate within the provided operating parameters for LTE systems with in the 3.5 GHz band,” the alliance said: More labs are likely to be certified this year. The first eight include: Dekra, Nokia Global Product Compliance Laboratory, Sporton International, TUV Sud and Nemko San Diego. This all "further indicates the explosive growth of this technology,” said Alan Ewing, alliance executive director. "The OnGo Certification program ensures that FCC regulations for operating in shared spectrum are met -- expediting formal FCC certification -- and allows manufacturers to conduct the initial phase of functional testing,” the group said.

As the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band enters the test phase, the FCC Friday sought proposals for short-term, limited geographic deployment by conditionally approved spectrum access system (SAS) administrators. The Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology must assess and test each SAS before final certification, said the notice in docket 15-319. “This is intended to ensure that, through robust, rapid testing in a variety of real-world scenarios, the SAS is operating in compliance with Commission rules.” The real-world tests “will complement the testing done in a controlled laboratory setting by providing a real-world environment to assess certain aspects of compliance with the Commission’s rules that cannot be effectively verified under laboratory testing,” the FCC said. Tweeted Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 1807250055): “As I hinted was coming at @HouseCommerce hearing, @FCC announces today another step to making 3.5 GHz band operational for licensed & unlicensed use. I look forward to early commercial SAS markets, hopefully later this year.”

NTIA is starting a feasibility study for the 3450-3550 MHz band, though making the spectrum available for commercial use is no slam dunk, said Paige Atkins, outgoing (see 1807230049) associate administrator-spectrum, at the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee meeting Tuesday. NTIA is targeting the band as the next candidate for wireless broadband, Administrator David Redl announced in February (see 1802260047), noting DOD needs to find another location for military radar systems in the segment of frequencies that carriers may use for 5G.

FCC Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel, appearing together at a WifiForward event, agreed the FCC needs to make more spectrum available for Wi-Fi. Both expressed impatience with the slow pace of opening the 5.9 GHz band for sharing with Wi-Fi. O’Rielly said later he doesn’t have a firm timetable for the release of proposed rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band.