CBRS

Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri met with FCC Chairman Ajit Pai on spectrum issues, including the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband service band (see 1805220034 and 1805230013), said a filing in docket 14-177. Suri and Rick Corker, Nokia president North America, also met with Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Jessica Rosenworcel. “Innovative spectrum policies [have] unlocked the potential of gigabits of spectrum, including the 3.5 GHz and mmWave bands,” the filing said. “The Commission should move more quickly to get those spectrum bands into the market via auction so that they can be put to use. The Nokia Executives asked that the Commission expedite auctioning mid-band and mmWave spectrum bands, and hold auctions that cover more than one band at a time, which will speed deployment of 5G services to American consumers.” The executives stressed the importance of the 3.7-4.2 GHz band “as the centerpiece for nationwide 5G deployment.” A proposal by Intelsat and SES "to unlock only 100 MHz of spectrum for 5G over 3 years is not sufficient to meet the needs of wireless operators, or to keep the U.S. competitive with the emerging 5G plans in China, Japan and Korea,” they said. They encouraged the FCC to approve this year proposals for spectrum access system administrators in the 3.5 GHz band (see 1805220065), including the telecom manufacturer's SAS submission. As the regulator tries to prevent USF from funding equipment that threatens national security, the firm asked it "not be used to cast uncertainty on the entire industry, including longstanding, well-vetted partners of U.S. government and industry."

The FCC Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology, “on their own motion,” Tuesday provided a conditional waiver of rules for spectrum access system administrators in the nascent 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. SASs could authorize only lower-power (Category A) devices to operate in the band outside of exclusion zones and couldn’t authorize the use of any higher-power (Category B) devices before certification and deployment of environmental sensing capability (ESC) operators. The FCC side-stepped this requirement, letting SASs use an alternative protection methodology based on dynamic protection areas (DPAs). Every SAS will have to decide whether it will take advantage of the rule change, the FCC said. “Prior to the deployment of an ESC, a DPA-enabled SAS may authorize both Category A and Category B [devices] and will not be required to enforce Exclusion Zones in areas protected by DPAs,” the order said. “Prior to the deployment of an ESC, non-DPA-enabled SASs may only authorize Category A CBSDs outside of Exclusion Zones, consistent with the current rules.” The FCC said the revised rules will permit operators in the band to “operate both Category A and Category B [devices] in a larger portion of the country more quickly than anticipated and thereby will promote efficient spectrum use and rapid commercial deployment in the band, encourage investment, and facilitate the expeditious provision of new products and services to the public while still protecting federal operations.”

The main wireless carrier associations and other groups said they met with FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly on the latest discussions on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. O’Rielly, overseeing a rewrite of the CBRS rules, urged stakeholders to negotiate (see 1802130041). “The parties continued to discuss their respective positions regarding the geographic licensing areas for Priority Access Licenses in the 3.5 GHz band,” said a filing in docket 17-258. “The parties also continued to reiterate the importance of the 3.5 GHz band to serving a variety of business cases and deployment plans.” Officials from the Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, General Electric, NCTA, NTCA, the Rural Wireless Association and Wireless ISP Association attended. The principals met O’Rielly in April (see 1805010052).

The CBRS Alliance, promoting the future use of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, Tuesday launched the OnGo brand and a certification program for CBRS devices. Last month, the alliance unveiled network and coexistence baseline specifications. “I would compare this to Wi-Fi,” CBRS Alliance President Dave Wright said in an interview. “Everybody knows what Wi-Fi means. It’s a very versatile brand. It applies to all kinds of different applications of a technology and use cases.”

Charter Communications is testing of use of the 3.5 GHz spectrum in fixed wireless applications in some markets and mobility applications in others, like Tampa, it blogged Friday. It said the testing will help prepare for its mobile wireless service launch, expected in the middle of this year (see 1804270033). It said it has 200 citizens broadband radio service small cellsites deployed in Tampa in a variety of settings, and it's considering how the CBRS band could be part of its wireless operations. Charter said it plans ubiquitous wireless connectivity through a mix of Wi-Fi 4G, LTE and 5G

Negotiations on the future of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band are on. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly called in several principals last week for a meeting, said a filing in docket 17-258. The Competitive Carriers Association, CTIA, General Electric, NCTA, NTCA, the Rural Wireless Association and the Wireless ISP Association attended. “The parties explained the importance of the 3.5 GHz band to serving a variety of business cases and deployment plans,” said a joint filing. “The parties specifically offered their perspectives on the geographic licensing areas for Priority Access Licenses in the 3.5 GHz band, consistent with their respective filings in this proceeding.”

The Trump administration is developing a national spectrum strategy, NTIA Administrator David Redl said at a Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee meeting Wednesday. The Obama administration took an active role on spectrum policy, promoting sharing over exclusive use licenses in many cases, but the Trump administration has been relatively quiet (see 1712270032). Redl said NTIA is working with the administration on a plan. FCC and industry officials welcomed the administration’s long-awaited deep dive.

The Competitive Carriers Association and CTIA jointly proposed a compromise on the size of priority access licenses in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. They "reached an agreement that the Commission should license PALs using Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSAs) in the top 306 Cellular Market Areas (CMAs) and use county-based geographic area licenses in the remaining 428 CMAs,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 17-258. “This compromise proposal paves the way for swift action while balancing the needs of the wide range of stakeholders that are expected to participate in the 3.5 GHz auction,” the groups said. “It promotes investment in the band and provides an opportunity for parties to acquire PAL spectrum in areas that best fit their business models and investment plans.” Wireless ISP Association President Claude Aiken objected, saying the CBRS proposal would “effectively put up a ‘large bidders only’ sign at the door and turn away innovators and small operators serving rural Americans.” The FCC should beef up competition for 3.5 GHz spectrum in the largest metropolitan statistical areas by reducing license areas in the top 10 percent of MSA markets to counties, Charter Communications said in a docket 17-258 filing Monday about the wireless proposal. It said it's investing in 3.5 GHz trials itself in markets in California, Colorado, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan and North Carolina.

CommScope and Ericsson said tests they ran show their equipment designed for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band is interoperable. The two said this was one of the first successful interoperability tests using the Wireless Innovation Forum’s release 1.2 specifications. Tests showed CommScope’s spectrum access system and Ericsson’s radio infrastructure with CBRS spectrum support can work together. “Ericsson offers a comprehensive portfolio of CBRS network solutions that will help operators of all sizes deploy in this spectrum quickly and successfully,” said Paul Challoner, Ericsson vice president-network product solutions. “Additional milestones need to be reached for CBRS to become a reality, but we are pleased to complete interoperability testing with CommScope as part of the developmental process.”

Verizon is working with leading vendors and technology companies to test 4G over the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service spectrum at its lab in Irving, Texas, the carrier said Thursday. After initial trials last year, Corning, Ericsson, Federated Wireless, Google, Nokia and Qualcomm are working with Verizon on “end-to-end system testing to further develop the use of this new spectrum,” Verizon said. The companies are testing spectrum access system algorithms from Google and Federated Wireless to make sure they are “consistently providing the best channel match from the SAS database,” said a news release. Also under examination are “data rates, modulations and the customer experience using CBRS spectrum,” the level of interoperability between infrastructure providers “to ensure seamless handoffs between CBRS spectrum and licensed spectrum for customers,” and the performance and data rates of 4G LTE over the spectrum,” the carrier said. The company predicted the band will be available for use next year.