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.
A long-awaited FCC order on changes to rules for the citizens broadband radio service band is unlikely for the Sept. 26 commissioners’ meeting, but should get a vote at the Oct. 23 meeting, said industry officials active in the 3.5 GHz proceeding. FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly said in early July he started to share his long-awaited proposal for the band with Chairman Ajit Pai (see Notebook section at end of 1807120033).
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.
The FCC shouldn’t offer census-tract-sized licenses as part of the licensed tier of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, CTIA said in a meeting with Erin McGrath, aide to Commissioner Mike O’Rielly. “The current licensing scheme for the CBRS, with 74,000 separate license areas based on census tracts 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 in docket 17-258. “Census tract licensing would have significant drawbacks, including that it would create administrative complexity for the Commission, licensees, and Spectrum Access System Administrators; raise significant interference concerns; reduce the value of the spectrum; and raise the cost of designing and deploying networks, thereby harming rural investment.”
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The Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy cited potential harms from a USTelecom forbearance petition seeking FCC relief for ILECs from wholesale unbundling discount and resale duties. The office said many CLECs are "very concerned" the FCC may grant nationwide relief. "A blanket grant of forbearance in every market could have a devastating impact on small businesses that rely on unbundled network element (UNEs) to serve customers," said SBA advocates' filing on meeting aides to FCC Chairman Ajit Pai, posted Thursday in docket 18-141. Many CLECs heavily invested in deploying fiber networks using revenue from UNE-based services, and then moved customers to their own facilities over time, creating competitive pressures and incentives for incumbents to do likewise, the advocates said. They "urged the FCC to study the impact forbearance would have on small businesses, competition and the deployment of next generation networks." SBA also addressed robocalling, infrastructure deployment streamlining and 3550-3700 GHz band issues. On the citizens broadband radio service, SBA sided with advocates of census tracts for the priority access licenses that will be part of the band. SBA has concerns that adopting larger geographic licenses could “foreclose competition and result in decreased service in rural areas.” Uniti Fiber said UNEs "enable the company to expand its service offerings and network to new customers," and it "relies especially heavily on dry copper loops" and "dark fiber interoffice transport," regarding meetings with Commissioners Mike O'Rielly and Brendan Carr, and an aide to Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel (here, here, here). It said "the loss (or increase in price) of these inputs will have a significant impact" on its ability to make new deployments and maintain existing services. Blackfoot Communications, an ILEC/CLEC leasing UNEs from CenturyLink, said eliminating its access to UNE loops or increasing their price "would have an immediate and direct adverse impact on businesses in Montana and Idaho," given lack of alternatives. UNEs support Blackfoot's fiber and fixed-wireless expansion, it told Wireline Bureau staffers. It urged the FCC to look at the UNE specifics of each regional Bell. CenturyLink, another ILEC/CLEC, "views purchasing UNEs as a short-term strategy which is part of a larger transitional process," said a filing on a meeting it and USTelecom had with bureau staffers.