CBRS

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.”

Any plan for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band that doesn’t include census-tract-sized priority access licenses (PALs) likely faces a divided vote at the FCC. Commissioners indicated potential disagreements during a House Communications Subcommittee hearing Wednesday (see 1807250043). Chairman Ajit Pai said Commissioner Mike O’Rielly gave him analysis of proposed changes for rules for the band but no firm recommendations.

Microsoft and RTO Wireless agreed to use TV white spaces and citizens broadband radio service spectrum to bring fixed and mobile wireless broadband to about 290,000 people in rural Maine and New York, the companies said Tuesday. It’s part of Microsoft’s Airband Initiative that seeks to extend broadband to 2 million rural Americans by July 4, 2022, they said. New York GOP U.S. Reps. Tom Reed, Elise Stefanik, Claudia Tenney and Chris Collins applauded the partnership.

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.

Officials from 182 fixed wireless broadband providers said the FCC should retain census tracts for at least some of the priority access licenses sold as part of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. The FCC is expected soon to take up revised rules for the band (see 1807160057). “Reject options that take census tracts off the table and propel rural broadband access backwards instead of forwards,” the companies asked Monday in docket 17-258. “Without census-tract-sized licenses, we will have virtually no ability to acquire protected spectrum in this band. That would be an intolerable outcome that would harm our rural broadband businesses and inhibit our ability to grow, but worse it would harm the millions of consumers for whom mid-band spectrum is the key to high-speed fixed broadband access.” Wireless ISPs invested in the band under the current rules "by deploying software-defined radios in the 3650-3700 MHz band that can be easily upgraded to operate in the entire 3550-3700 MHz band, reaching more rural consumers within months," the WISPs said.

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly is keeping his plans for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band close to his chest. O’Rielly said last week he has started to share his long-awaited proposal with Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1807120033). Some industry officials who favor smaller geographic license sizes for the priority access licenses that will be offered in the band are hearing that O’Rielly is proposing a plan similar to what was proposed by CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association. Other industry and FCC officials urged caution before drawing conclusions but said the proposal seems unlikely to get the full support of the commission, especially Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.

A heated dispute over FCC changes to informal complaint procedures overshadowed commissioners' 3-1 approval of an order to streamline formal complaint processes. Dissenter Jessica Rosenworcel said the order effectively removes the agency from working to resolve informal complaints against companies, forcing consumers unsatisfied by company responses to file a formal complaint costing $225. "This is bonkers. No one should be asked to pay $225 for this agency to do its job," she said at Thursday's commissioners' meeting.

The FCC should approve larger geographic license sizes for the priority access licenses it sells as part of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band (CBRS), CTIA said in docket 17-258. Under current rules, the licenses would be sold as census tracts. “A new report by Analysys Mason shows that the current licensing scheme … with 74,000 separate license areas … and an average population of 4,400 per area, is significantly smaller than the license areas used for comparable spectrum in the rest of the world,” CTIA said. “The Commission should move expeditiously to make mid-band spectrum available for flexible use, and it should release the spectrum with rules that will support next-generation networks. Nations around the world are adopting larger license sizes as a way to promote prompt and efficient buildout of 5G networks.”

FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said he's nearing a recommendation on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, speaking Thursday to reporters after a speech at the Free State Foundation on process changes. The 180-day shot clock on deal approval “should be more than aspirational,” O’Rielly said, with several takeovers still pending before the regulator. “We can make decisions with a set time frame.”

ATIS and the Citizens Broadband Radio Service Alliance announced a development they say will make use of the 3.5 GHz band more commercially viable. The work was done by ATIS’ International Mobile Subscriber Identity Oversight Council. The IMSI council oversees U.S. assignment of IMSI numbers, a 15-digit international identifier that allows for network roaming. In collaboration with the CBRS Alliance, “ATIS developed an innovative new IMSI code that is specifically allocated for use by CBRS spectrum operators," they said Tuesday. The council “will also begin administration of an IMSI Block Number (IBN), under the oversight of the IMSI Administrator, iconectiv,” they said. “The IBN will be assigned to CBRS spectrum operators to support the implementation of network services. This work is essential for utilizing CBRS for LTE services while also advancing IoT applications.”