FCC Chairman Ajit Pai told Rep. Robert Wittman, R-Va., he plans to propose the next steps on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band “in the coming months.” The FCC posted a March 14 letter to the Virginia lawmaker. “I appreciate your interest in bringing broadband to unserved and underserved communities,” Pai wrote, responding to a November letter. “Your views will be entered into the record of the current 3.5 GHz rulemaking proceeding and considered as part of the Commission's review.”
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.
A big test of NTIA efforts to incentivize spectrum sharing between industry and federal agencies and the agencies maximizing their use of their spectrum assignments will come over the next few years with the rollout of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, said NTIA Administrator David Redl Wednesday at Satellite 2018. NTIA is looking at the 3450-3550 MHz band as a candidate for potential commercial use, Redl said (prepared remarks here). He said DOD plans to ask for money through the Spectrum Relocation Fund to study the band (see 1802260047). Redl said appropriations have been provided to study proposed reallocation of the 1300-1350 MHz band. Many think reallocation of the 1.3 GHz band is probably a top NTIA priority (see 1802230052).
Electric utilities urged the FCC to keep census-tract sized geographic licenses for priority access licenses (PALs) in the 3.5 GHz shared band. The Edison Electric Institute reported on a meeting between members and Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, overseeing the FCC’s look at changing the rules for the citizens broadband radio service band. If the FCC approves larger PALs, utilities and other critical industry companies won’t be able to compete with wireless carriers for the licenses, EEI said in docket 17-258. “The industry is investing approximately $100 billion per year on building new infrastructure,” EEI said. “Much of this investment is targeted at deployment of the Smart Grid/Energy loT. Not only will this help improve grid safety, reliability and security, it will also facilitate the offering of new services related to Smart Communities, microgrids, electric vehicles and a host of other new consumer services. The current spectrum that electric utilities have is not sufficient to meet the growing capacity requirements.” General Electric recently stressed keeping the current license sizes (see 1802140055).
General Electric executives said they spoke with Rachael Bender, aide to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, on why the FCC should keep census tract-sized licenses in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. GE has been a leading proponent of keeping the current license sizes, citing the importance to the industrial IoT (see 1802140055). “Spectrum is an essential input for myriad activities around the United States that generate important economic, social, safety, and other public interest benefits,” said a filing in docket 17-258. “GE, its industrial and critical-infrastructure customers, and other diverse users will make intensive use of their licensed spectrum with targeted, localized wireless network deployments that will generate a wave of new cutting-edge jobs and economic growth in a mix of urban, suburban, rural, and remote areas.”
CTIA urged the FCC to act “quickly” to modify the priority access license rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. The most important changes are auctioning PALs for a 10-year term with an expectation of renewal and in sizes larger than census tracts, CTIA said in meetings with aides to Commissioners Mike O’Rielly and Brendan Carr. Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile officials were also there. The changes would give licensees “greater certainty and encourage investment,” CTIA said in docket 17-258. “Making these targeted reforms to the CBRS framework will help unlock the benefits that 5G will bring to the U.S. economy -- benefits that were not foreseen when this proceeding was originally undertaken -- by providing faster speeds and additional bandwidth needed to support the Internet of Things.”
The FCC tentatively approved the first environmental sensing capability (ESC) operators for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, moving launch of the CBRS sharing band another step closer to reality. The ESC operators allow sharing in coastal areas, protecting Navy radars. The four are: CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google and Key Bridge Wireless. All must now submit their systems for testing before final certification, the FCC said. “The ESC operators will manage a sensor system designed to detect the presence of federal incumbent radar transmissions in the 3550-3650 MHz portion of the 3.5 GHz Band and communicate that information to one or more Spectrum Access Systems (SAS) in accordance with the Commission’s rules,” said the notice by the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless Bureau. “The ESC will enable more dynamic sharing between federal and non-federal users in the band, particularly in coastal areas.” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly last week said approval of the operators was imminent (see 1802130041). “Today’s important step gets us closer to permitting 3.5 GHz use in coastal areas where a huge population of Americans live and attracting necessary investment for equipment manufacturing and network deployment," O’Rielly said Wednesday. Ruckus Networks Wednesday announced release of 3.5 GHz LTE access points and associated cloud-based subscription services. The 3.5 GHz market is likely to be huge, Ruckus said. “The Ruckus LTE portfolio enables enterprises to deploy private LTE networks to ensure high quality-of-service (QoS) for critical business applications,” said a news release.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn remains strongly opposed to any changes to the rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio services band, which would lead to larger license sizes for priority access licenses (PALs), said Louis Peraertz, her wireless aide, at a panel hosted by General Electric Wednesday. A GE executive said the band is critical to U.S. leadership of the industrial IoT. Tuesday, advocates of larger license sizes spoke at an AT&T-sponsored event (see 1802130041).
Commissioner Mike O’Rielly, who has led the FCC push to change 3.5 GHz communications broadband radio service rules, said Tuesday he's not convinced the agency should significantly reduce the geographic size of the priority access licenses (PALs) that will be sold in an auction. It was always clear the 3.5 GHz band has “great potential, but I do not believe we have the solution quite right yet,” said Joan Marsh, chief regulatory and state external affairs officer at AT&T, which held the event.
A large group of wireless ISPs and other businesses said the FCC shouldn't tamper with rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. “For many of us, CBRS will allow us to develop our own networks and deploy technologies that will improve the experiences of our customers and connect the unconnected in rural America,” said a filing in docket 17-258. “CBRS is ready for business, and we are here to tell you that business is ready for CBRS.” The FCC may approve a compromise (see 1801310067).
While staffers for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai aren’t signaling yet what he will recommend on the contentious question of what to do about priority access licenses in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band, growing industry speculation is Pai will propose a compromise. Rather than auction all the PALs on a census-tract basis, or as much larger partial economic areas, the FCC would take a varied approach. It would offer some of the seven PALs in each market as census tracts or a similarly small license size and others as PEAs or possibly county-sized licenses.