CBRS

Commissioner Brendan Carr told a Competitive Carriers Association conference Thursday he has been tasked by Chairman Ajit Pai with overseeing the FCC’s push to overhaul the agency’s wireless infrastructure rules. Pai said the first of the wireless infrastructure items will get a vote at the Nov. 16 FCC meeting (see 1710260049). Carr's remarks were streamed from Fort Worth.

The FCC approved an NPRM Tuesday proposing to rewrite parts of rules for the shared 3.5 GHz band, over a dissent by Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel. Commissioner Mignon Clyburn concurred rather than approve, saying she would have preferred the FCC left the rules as is. The votes were as predicted, with all three Republicans voting yes (see 1710180043). Both Democrats voted against the FCC allowing stations to host studios outside their communities of license (see 1710240062).

Partial economic area (PEA) or other larger license sizes would mean carriers are the only ones likely to buy priority access licenses (PALs) in the 3.5 GHz, Citizens Broadband Radio Service band, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Program at New America, in a meeting with an aide to Commissioner Mignon Clyburn. Commissioners are to consider an NPRM proposing larger license sizes and other changes to the citizens broadband radio service rules at their Oct. 24 meeting, with Democrats skeptical of changes (see 1710120009). The Los Angeles PEA covers the entire metropolitan area, includes Riverside County and extends to the Nevada border, Calabrese said in a filing in docket 17-258. “It would be far easier for carriers to assemble larger contiguous areas by acquiring census tracts than it would be for hundreds or thousands of other potential users noted above to either win a PEA or county license at auction,” Calabrese said. “Subleasing small areas of spectrum from a big mobile carrier, through a secondary market transaction, is unrealistic both because of high transaction costs and because carriers have a disincentive to allow competitors with or substitutes for their services to access spectrum at a reasonable price.” The Wireless ISP Association, meanwhile, said the FCC should keep the current rules in place. A plan backed by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly “and the mobile industry would overturn pro-innovation rules adopted unanimously by the FCC -- twice -- in 2014 and 2015,” WISPA said in a Monday statement. “Dozens of companies are already making significant investments in the CBRS band, counting on the current rules.” WISPA also urged the FCC to approve the Broadband Access Coalition’s proposal for the 3.7-4.2 GHz band (see 1706210044). “Under mobile industry pressure, the FCC is prioritizing a much broader and more time-consuming review of multiple spectrum bands, which would lead to years of regulatory delay and no near-term progress for rural America,” WISPA said.

Although dissents on NPRMs aren’t common, FCC Commissioners Mignon Clyburn and Jessica Rosenworcel continue to have big questions on the pending 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service NPRM, set for a vote Oct. 24, industry and agency officials said. CBRS rule changes primarily affect only one of the three tiers of the FCC’s sharing plan for the band, the priority access license (PAL) tier. Under the sharing plan, federal incumbents, followed by PAL holders and then general access users, would have top priority to use the spectrum.

The 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service Band has the potential to become a key band for 5G, Preston Marshall, principal wireless architect at Google, said at the DC5G conference Wednesday. If the FCC allows smaller license sizes, hotels like the Renaissance Washington, where the event took place, can set up their own networks independent of the carriers, Marshall said. “We’ve never had that.”

The FCC proposed changing rules for the 3.5 GHz shared band, providing larger licenses for the priority access licenses (PALs) that will be offered at auction to carriers and others. The change was largely expected based on earlier comments by Commissioner Mike O’Rielly (see 1708010058), who oversaw development of revised rules. The change was opposed by New America, General Electric and others hoping census tract-sized licenses would attract investment from owners of industrial facilities, plus schools, hospitals and others.

Industry officials said it appears likely commissioners will consider a long-awaited NPRM on the shared 3.5 GHz band at their Oct. 24 meeting. That’s not a certainty since FCC Chairman Ajit Pai won’t circulate items until Tuesday. The FCC earlier moved up the date of the meeting by two days. Big-ticket items like net neutrality aren't expected at the October meeting, the officials said Monday. There's uncertainty about whether media ownership will get a vote.

The 800 MHz Transition Administrator clarified the Canadian border region (CBR) enhanced specialized mobile radio (ESMR) dividing line at the instruction of the FCC, said a filing. The TA said it determined the highest frequency occupied by a non-ESMR licensee in each of the six CBRs “by reviewing replacement frequency proposals for 800 MHz licensees, amendments to frequency proposals, and licensing records in the FCC’s Universal Licensing System.” The TA said it then identified the dividing line as “the frequency 12.5 kHz above the highest frequency licensed by a non-ESMR licensee in each CBR.” The TA has assisted with the 800 MHz rebanding, underway since 2004, designed to address interference to public safety in the 800 MHz band.

Verizon, Ericsson, Qualcomm Technologies and Federated Wireless said they were the first to demonstrate the successful use of LTE with carrier aggregation in the 3.5 GHz shared band. The demonstration was in an Ericsson lab in Plano, Texas, and offered “end-to-end” Citizens Broadband Radio Service communications “using 2x20 MHz LTE carriers on the CBRS band 48,” said a joint news release. "The use of CBRS spectrum greatly advances our work in emerging spectrum bands,” said Nicola Palmer, Verizon wireless chief network officer.

The Dynamic Spectrum Alliance (DSA) told the FCC that by its tabulation “the vast majority” of comments oppose proposed changes by CTIA and T-Mobile for the 3.5 GHz shared band. Some 84 percent of comments in the initial comment round were against CTIA and 89 percent against T-Mobile, DSA said. T-Mobile and CTIA defended their proposals. One suggestion for priority access licenses (PALs) in the 3.5 GHz shared band that could have legs is NCTA's and Charter Communications’ push for a middle-ground on license sizes, industry officials said. Replies were posted Wednesday in docket 12-354. Termed by the FCC Citizens Broadband Radio Service, CBRS operations are expected to start even amid the controversy (see 1708080019).