CBRS

5G is growing in Europe, but the region is falling behind parts of the Americas and Asia, a GSMA official said during a Mobile World Live webinar Monday. Europe is “lagging in terms of customers willing to upgrade to 5G,” said Radhika Gupta, GSMA Intelligence head-data acquisition.

The FCC certified Red Technologies to join the ranks of spectrum access system administrators in the citizens broadband radio service band for a five-year period. The Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology also approved Red to support spectrum manager leasing for priority access licenses and to use Key Bridge’s environmental sensing capability to protect federal operations in the 3.55-3.65 GHz portion of the band. The approval was made in consultation with NTIA and DOD, the Friday notice said.

NTIA told the FCC it has a “temporary arrangement” with the Navy that will allow use of the citizens broadband radio service in the 3550-3650 MHz band before environmental sensing capability sensors are locally deployed. “Under this arrangement, the Navy will retain continuous access to three 10-megahertz channels in the 3550-3650 MHz band in and around Hawaii, leaving seven-10 megahertz channels available for CBRS use,” said a filing posted Thursday in docket 15-319. The Navy “will retain priority rights to the remainder of the 3550-3650 MHz band on an ‘as needed’ basis,” NTIA said.

NTIA is “near the finish line” on release of a national spectrum strategy (see 2301090035), Scott Harris, NTIA senior spectrum adviser, told the Commerce Spectrum Management Advisory Committee Thursday. Harris said the agency doesn’t view the strategy as an end point.

The FCC told spectrum access system administrators Tuesday they're now permitted to allow longer citizens broadband radio service device (CBSD) reauthorization periods than those previously permitted under FCC rules for some operations. The directions follow a letter to the FCC from NTIA. Previously, all devices had to be reauthorized at least once every five minutes to ensure compliance with FCC rules. “We agree that extending this reauthorization period from 300 seconds to 24 hours in geographic areas and portions of the spectrum band that are outside of the scope of current federal operations will help to provide a more stable and predictable spectrum environment for Citizens Broadband Radio Service users while ensuring an interference-free environment for critical federal operations,” NTIA said in the Monday letter to the chiefs of the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology. NTIA said it’s comfortable with the longer periods for devices outside of dynamic protection areas (DPAs) and for devices using the 3.65-3.7 GHz part of the band. The shorter time frame continues for devices using 3.55-3.65 GHz inside DPAs. The CBRS rules were designed to protect primarily naval radars that use the band. The FCC adopted the changes. “We agree with NTIA that allowing SAS administrators to modify their implementation of the CBSD reauthorization period under these circumstances will create a more stable, predictable spectrum environment for all 3.5 GHz band users without jeopardizing the protection of critical federal operations from harmful interference,” the FCC said.

Samsung Electronics America representatives said they met with FCC staff to press for action on the company’s request for waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2303100019). “The waiver request has been pending for more than a year” and is “ripe for grant,” said a filing posted Wednesday in docket 23-93. “As carriers prepare to deploy wireless infrastructure to utilize both their 3.7 GHz and 3.5 GHz licenses, the proposed multiband radio is critical to support 5G buildout in the United States,” Samsung said: Grant of the waiver “will serve the public interest by affording 5G network operators with access to an innovative, efficient, and cost-effective base station that is smaller, is more energy efficient, and has more functionality than separate CBRS and 3.7 GHz band radios.” The representatives met with an aide to Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel and staff for the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering and Technology.

Wireless ISP Association representatives raised concerns on Samsung Electronics America’s request for waiver for a 5G base station radio that works across citizens broadband radio service and C-band spectrum (see 2303100019). WISPA questioned whether the waiver could be construed to allow the CBRS side of the radio to use higher C-band out-of-band emissions limits. “We indicated that the difference between -13 dBm/MHz and -25 dBm/MHz is significant,” said a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-93: “Any increase in noise within the CBRS band could have severe consequences for the tens of thousands of [CBRS devices] currently registered for General Authorized Access and Priority Access License use, many of which have been deployed by WISPA members to serve … consumers and businesses.”

The FCC ordered spectrum access system administrators in the citizens broadband radio service band to start using the DOD’s Telecommunications Advanced Research and Dynamic Spectrum Sharing System (TARDyS3) scheduling portal to protect designated DOD facilities. “The TARDyS3 is a DOD managed calendar-based tool that will support the expeditious and autonomous communication of scheduled spectrum use information for designated facilities in the 3.5 GHz band that was developed to replace the manual scheduling portal currently used,” said a Monday order by the Wireless Bureau and Office of Engineering Technology. The FCC said it acted on a request last week by NTIA.

The current iteration of the FCC’s Technology Advisory Council, with its focus on 6G, held its final meeting Thursday, its first meeting in 2023. TAC members approved two white papers and reports by its working groups. Andrew Clegg, co-chair of the Advanced Spectrum Sharing Working Group, told TAC the group faced roadblocks getting data from the government. TAC approved recommendations and a white paper from the WG, which the FCC hasn't posted.

The FCC Wireless Bureau granted the NFL a two-year extension of rules for the citizens broadband radio service Wednesday, allowing the league to continue operating a coach-to-coach communications system in the event of a localized internet outage in stadiums during games. The FCC sought comment in July (see 2307050028) and NCTA raised concerns but didn’t oppose the waiver (see 2307180042). The NFL “reiterates many of its claims about its coach-to-coach communications system, but also states that it has spent the past several months conducting due diligence into implementing a technological solution beyond its current ISP redundancy in each NFL stadium,” the bureau said. “We find that a limited extension of the conditional waiver to allow the NFL to complete due diligence on a rules-compliant technical solution … is in the public interest.” The bureau ordered the league to submit a report in March explaining what it's doing “at each NFL stadium to avoid interruptions” in spectrum access system connectivity and “details regarding any remaining impediments to achieving compliance with the Commission’s rules.”