Charter Communications will launch a field trial early next year that pairs its Wi-Fi service with citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band small cells for mobile subscribers, letting it offload wireless traffic that otherwise would be on Verizon's network through the companies' mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) agreement. The test will involve thousands of pole-mounted small cellsites in an unnamed designated market area, CEO Tom Rutledge said Friday as the company announced Q3 results. Charter bought 210 licenses in 106 counties in the 2020 CBRS auction. Rutledge said Wi-Fi with CBRS has "an opportunity to make a significant change" in how much traffic is on Charter's network vs. using the MVNO.
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.
Incumbent informing capability, a new and sophisticated sharing technology that makes use of AI and machine learning, is a major NTIA focus, but the agency doesn’t have the congressional funding it needs to put IIC in place, experts told us. IIC would be the next generation of sharing, a more sophisticated version of what's being done in the citizens broadband radio service, replacing the environmental sensing capability (ESC) used in that band.
The Biden administration is looking past 5G to 6G, said Evelyn Remaley, NTIA acting administrator, at the Americas Spectrum Management Conference Wednesday. She's “very optimistic” about opening the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for 5G and sees industry support for developing a national spectrum strategy. Others cited the importance of the C-band and issues that must be addressed after the record-setting auction.
The FCC remains focused on opening the 3.1-3.45 GHz band for 5G, acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel told the Americas Spectrum Management Conference Tuesday. Other speakers said the U.S. is making progress on 5G, but it's a time of uncertainty and change on spectrum policy. Promoters had planned an in-person event but took it virtual with the rise in COVID-19 infections.
The FCC let spectrum access system administrator Amdocs use Key Bridge’s environmental sensing capability to protect federal incumbents in the citizens broadband radio service band. “Amdocs has demonstrated that its SAS can properly interoperate with Key Bridge’s ESC and that it will comply with all relevant provisions of the Commission’s part 96 rules,” said a Wednesday notice by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.
DOD is focused on making 3.1-3.45 GHz available for 5G, but doing so won’t be easy, said Vernita Harris, director-spectrum policy and programs, at the virtual NTIA Spectrum Policy Symposium Tuesday. Others said after the fights during the last administration, the Biden administration is improving coordination on sharing between federal agencies. The 3.1-3.45 GHz band is widely viewed as the most promising mid-band spectrum on the horizon for 5G.
Google asked for an emergency waiver of its commitment to be an environmental sensing capability administrator in the citizens broadband radio service, after its monitoring systems went down during Hurricane Ida. The sensor sites affected are in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana, said a filing posted Tuesday, in docket 15-319. CommScope and Federated Wireless sought similar waivers last week.
Anterix and Federated Wireless are offering electric utilities a new option for their private networks, combining Anterix’s licensed 900 MHz spectrum with Federated’s shared spectrum service in the citizens broadband radio service band. The offering can provide “the benefits of the wide coverage and dedicated control of licensed 900 MHz combined with the capacity and flexibility of unlicensed or licensed CBRS spectrum,” the companies said Wednesday.
Two wireless ISPs agreed to pay fines for allegedly prohibited communications during the FCC’s citizens broadband radio service auction of priority access licenses. Router12 agreed to implement a compliance plan and pay a $50,000 penalty. Router12 CEO Ryan Malek violated the rules by posting a statement on the WISP Talk Facebook Group page indicating his company didn’t intend to bid, said a Wednesday notice by the Enforcement Bureau: “Another member of the group replied to the post, stating, ‘At this point, you either filed the short-form for CBRS PAL auction and can’t talk about it, or you missed the deadline.’” Nikola Broadband agreed to pay a $30,000 fine and institute a compliance plan. President Robert Zeff sent an email with the subject line “CBRS fiasco” to the WISP Association’s members email group, saying, “[w]e are backing out of the auction,” the bureau said. Stephen Coran, counsel to WISPA replied, “PLEASE DO NOT POST ANY FURTHER MESSAGES TO THIS LIST.”
Dell’Oro Group dialed down a near-term forecast for citizens broadband radio service investments in 5G deployments Tuesday, projecting $500 million to $1 billion in 2020-25. The adjustments “reflect slower than expected year-to-date LTE CBRS base station adoption,” said Vice President Stefan Pongratz: But “activity is on the rise with interesting use cases forming around multiple verticals, adding confidence enterprise and private deployments will comprise a greater share of the overall CBRS market over time.”