CBRS

The FCC on Thursday approved environmental sensing capability sensor deployments and coverage plans for Federated Wireless in Hawaii in the citizens broadband radio service band. The Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology in coordination with NTIA and the DOD made the approval. Federated has satisfied the sensor coverage requirements to protect DOD operations in nine dynamic protection areas in the state and Pearl Harbor, the notice said. Federated on Wednesday asked for an extra six months, from June 30 to Dec. 31, to launch operations. The extension “is necessary to allow Federated Wireless sufficient time to complete construction of its ESC network in Hawaii, which… is taking longer than anticipated due to circumstances beyond the company’s control.”

The U.S. is reaching an inflection point where some bands will be available only for sharing, said Derek Khlopin, deputy associate administrator-spectrum planning and policy in the NTIA Office of Spectrum Management. During an RCR Wireless private networks forum Tuesday, Khlopin said the national spectrum strategy discusses spectrum dynamic sharing many times, and that’s not a surprise. Khlopin, who is coordinating NTIA’s work on the strategy (see 2405060051), said, “I don’t think we really have a choice."

Samsung Electronics America urged the FCC to act on the company’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). Samsung summarized the record so far in the proceeding, in a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-93. “Over the past 21 months, Samsung and others have provided information to the FCC numerous times explaining the benefits of this waiver, its compliance with the FCC’s rules (apart from the narrow waiver), its lack of any material impact on the noise environment in the CBRS band, and the fact that it would set no precedent for any future waivers for other, hypothetical equipment that (unlike the Samsung device) potentially would affect the CBRS noise environment,” Samsung said.

NCTA representatives discussed concerns about Samsung Electronics America’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041), speaking with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel. Earlier, NCTA raised questions as well (see 2404090058). Samsung’s proposed radio threatens the utility of the CBRS band because of Samsung’s design choice not to use a filter between the C-Band and the CBRS band,” said a filing last week in docket 23-93. “The Commission could not justifiably grant Samsung’s waiver request without setting a precedent that future parties would rely on for other radios in these frequencies and many others,” NCTA said. Among those represented at the meeting were Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Enterprises.

The Wireless ISP Association agreed with out-of-band emissions concerns that NCTA raised about Samsung Electronics America’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see [Ref:2404090058). WISPA representatives spoke with an aide to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel, a filing this week in docket 23-93 said. “We explained that WISPA does not oppose Samsung’s specific request for waiver insofar as it requests a higher OOBE from the CBRS band into a specific portion of C-Band,” WISPA said: “However, WISPA expressed concern that the waiver request could be misinterpreted to allow the CBRS side of the radio to use the less restrictive C-band OOBE limits.”

The 5G cycle is reaching the middle stages, with strong growth over the past two years, Ericsson executives said during a Mobile World Live webinar on Thursday. At the end of 2023, 63% of wireless subscribers in the U.S. were using 5G, which is “remarkable,” especially given the 42% reported a year earlier, said Peter Linder, head-5G marketing at Ericsson North America.

Federated Wireless said improvements in citizens broadband radio service sharing mean CBRS users will see “at least 60% and potentially as much as 80% improvement in spectrum availability” in areas where Navy radars must be protected. Federated has seen “zero incidents of harmful interference to critical DOD operations” as part of its CBRS offerings, said Chief Technology Officer Kurt Schaubach. “We see this new set of CBRS enhancements as a milestone in the maturity of spectrum sharing,” he said. “Through the enhancements Federated Wireless has advanced, the user experience with CBRS spectrum will be on par with licensed spectrum that is many times more costly while still assuring robust shared access for incumbents and commercial users alike,” Federated said.

Samsung Electronics America representatives met with aides to FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel about the company’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). The company refuted concerns raised about the potential interference threat to CBRS (see 2404090058). Samsung was “the first phone manufacturer to offer a phone operating in CBRS in the United States and a leading supplier of CBRS base stations around the country,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-93: “Samsung has every incentive to ensure its proposed radio does not intentionally interfere with its and others’ CBRS radios.” The waiver request “has been pending more than 600 days and is ripe for grant,” the company said.

CTIA and its major members agreed that grants of special temporary authority (STA) are the best method of getting “inventory” spectrum into play, in reply comments posted Tuesday in docket 24-72. Others continue to stress the benefits of dynamic sharing and other mechanisms (see 2404090045). The FCC sought comment in March as the agency marked the one-year anniversary of its general auction authority expiring.

NCTA officials and members spoke with aides to all five FCC commissioners about Samsung Electronics America’s request for a waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2309130041). Cable companies objected earlier (see [Ref:2401050052). Technical analysis demonstrates that Samsung’s multiband radio “and others sure to follow based on its theory would increase the median noise in the CBRS band by roughly 11 dB, harming the services existing CBRS users are providing to consumers,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-98. Approval of the waiver “would set a troubling precedent by allowing future parties to disregard emissions limits and other protections, undermining the Commission’s ability to manage interference.” Among those represented on the calls were Comcast, Charter Communications and Cox Enterprises.