Meeting with FCC Commissioner Mike O'Rielly, Charter CEO Tom Rutledge said the company sees the possibility of offering "wireline-like" broadband connectivity and speeds using fixed wireless technologies in the 3.5 GHz band, according to a docket 17-258 filing posted Friday. Rutledge also said mobile uses of the citizens broadband radio service band "could combine well" with Wi-Fi and let a new entrant like cable deploy 3.5 GHz spectrum quickly. To facilitate new entrants into the mobility space, Rutledge said, the FCC should make sure 3.5 GHz license sizes aren't so big that only national carriers can bid, and adopt a compromise between the use of census tracts and partial economic areas. Counties could fit that bill, he said. Rutledge also backed opening the 5.9 GHz spectrum for unlicensed use quickly since that would help meet growing demands for faster Wi-Fi while also helping spur development of next-generation technologies like Gigabit Wi-Fi.
The FCC tentatively approved the first environmental sensing capability (ESC) operators for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, moving launch of the CBRS sharing band another step closer to reality. The ESC operators allow sharing in coastal areas, protecting Navy radars. The four are: CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google and Key Bridge Wireless. All must now submit their systems for testing before final certification, the FCC said. “The ESC operators will manage a sensor system designed to detect the presence of federal incumbent radar transmissions in the 3550-3650 MHz portion of the 3.5 GHz Band and communicate that information to one or more Spectrum Access Systems (SAS) in accordance with the Commission’s rules,” said the notice by the Office of Engineering and Technology and the Wireless Bureau. “The ESC will enable more dynamic sharing between federal and non-federal users in the band, particularly in coastal areas.” Commissioner Mike O’Rielly last week said approval of the operators was imminent (see 1802130041). “Today’s important step gets us closer to permitting 3.5 GHz use in coastal areas where a huge population of Americans live and attracting necessary investment for equipment manufacturing and network deployment," O’Rielly said Wednesday. Ruckus Networks Wednesday announced release of 3.5 GHz LTE access points and associated cloud-based subscription services. The 3.5 GHz market is likely to be huge, Ruckus said. “The Ruckus LTE portfolio enables enterprises to deploy private LTE networks to ensure high quality-of-service (QoS) for critical business applications,” said a news release.
FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn remains strongly opposed to any changes to the rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio services band, which would lead to larger license sizes for priority access licenses (PALs), said Louis Peraertz, her wireless aide, at a panel hosted by General Electric Wednesday. A GE executive said the band is critical to U.S. leadership of the industrial IoT. Tuesday, advocates of larger license sizes spoke at an AT&T-sponsored event (see 1802130041).
A large group of wireless ISPs and other businesses said the FCC shouldn't tamper with rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band. “For many of us, CBRS will allow us to develop our own networks and deploy technologies that will improve the experiences of our customers and connect the unconnected in rural America,” said a filing in docket 17-258. “CBRS is ready for business, and we are here to tell you that business is ready for CBRS.” The FCC may approve a compromise (see 1801310067).
While staffers for FCC Chairman Ajit Pai aren’t signaling yet what he will recommend on the contentious question of what to do about priority access licenses in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band, growing industry speculation is Pai will propose a compromise. Rather than auction all the PALs on a census-tract basis, or as much larger partial economic areas, the FCC would take a varied approach. It would offer some of the seven PALs in each market as census tracts or a similarly small license size and others as PEAs or possibly county-sized licenses.
General Electric, active in the past on the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio services band, met FCC Chairman Ajit Pai to urge the agency to stick with a plan to license priority access licenses on a census-tract basis. The FCC is examining whether it should instead license the PALs in larger sizes, as proposed by wireless carriers (see 1710240050). “Census-tract licensing is critically important to GE and its industrial and critical-infrastructure customers, since the CBRS band is an ideal spectrum platform for the ‘Industrial Internet of Things’ (IIoT) and can serve as a unique catalyst for accelerated growth throughout the U.S. industrial and manufacturing sector,” GE filed Wednesday in docket 17-258. “Robust IIoT applications require significant spectrum, secure localized networks, and specialized technology, and today industrial and critical-infrastructure entities are typically unable to obtain the necessary wireless functionality from commercial mobile operators on a cost-effective basis.” Also on 3.5 GHz, GeoLinks CEO Skyler Ditchfield and others from the wireless ISP explained the importance of the band to his company. Ditchfield met over two days with officials, including all FCC members other than Jessica Rosenworcel. “The Company explained the challenge of operating on unlicensed bands such as 5 GHz in urban environments, where overcrowding can slow and disrupt service,” said a Wednesday filing. “It could provide better and more reliable service, including Gigabit service to the home, if the Company had access to sufficient licensed or lightly licensed spectrum.”
NAB raised concerns about interference if the FCC makes technical changes to rules for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band. Other commenters said the FCC should minimize changes to the rules approved three years ago. The FCC approved the initial 3.5 GHz NPRM in 2012 (see 1212130044), setting up an experimental three-tiered access and sharing model made up of federal and nonfederal incumbents, priority access licenses (PALs) and general authorized access users. In October, commissioners agreed to seek comment on revising the rules (see 1710240050).
Frontier, Windstream and Consolidated Communications jointly told the FCC they're interested in using the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band and agree with others who argue against increasing the size of the priority access licenses (PALs) (see 1712260032). The three noted this is the first time they have weighed in on the CBRS proceeding. “Our companies believe that the 3.5 GHz Band could provide another key tool in the toolbox to reach the hardest to serve rural Americans if carriers are able to access the spectrum for rural fixed wireless deployments,” they said in a filing in docket 17-258. “In particular, by preserving smaller census tract license sizes in rural areas, the FCC can offer the opportunity for rural fixed wireless in the band and promote rural broadband deployment.” Wireless carriers represented by the Blooston, Mordkofsky law firm also supported smaller license sizes for the PALs. “The Commission can best promote investment and maximize opportunities for both large and small service providers by adopting county-based licensing for five (5) of the PALs and retaining census block licensing for two (2) PALs, and retaining a significant amount of dedicated [general access] spectrum to create and enhance opportunities for all operators,” the carriers said. The Wireless ISP Association said in a news release it will oppose changes to the rules in a filing it's making at the FCC. “There is nothing on the Commission’s agenda that is more important than connecting the 23 million rural Americans who don’t have access to broadband today,” said Chuck Hogg, WISPA chairman. “Fixed-wireless technology is the most cost-effective way to connect the unconnected, and the current CBRS rules are a solid framework to attract private capital to rapidly connect the unconnected. If the Commission is serious about bridging the digital divide, it will reject this transparent attempt by the nation’s largest mobile carriers to use the regulatory process for their exclusive benefit, and to the detriment of competition and rural broadband.”
Additional wireless ISPs warned against selling priority access licenses (PALs) in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band in geographic sizes larger than census tracts (see 1712220022). Kentucky WiMax said it already serves about 40 percent of its customers using WiMax equipment in the 3.65-3.7 GHz band, but is changing to LTE. “The rule changes proposed by the NPRM which increase the size of PALs and lengthen the term of licenses would most certainly put our company at a disadvantage to that of larger nationwide carriers,” the Kentucky WISP said. On-Ramp Indiana said larger PALs would “make the band nothing more than another Licensed band for the cellular industry.” InvisiMax, which serves parts of North Dakota and Minnesota, said it has invested more than $9 million in its network and investment sometimes seems “never ending.” InvisiMax said it's excited about the CBRS spectrum, but only big corporations and carriers will pursue larger PALs.
Two energy associations jointly urged the FCC to back away from proposals to sell priority access licenses (PALs) in the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) band in geographic sizes much larger than census tracts. Various wireless ISPs also raised objections. The FCC adopted an NPRM in October on several potential changes, including selling the PALs using partial economic area (PEA) licenses (see 1710240050). The Telecommunications Subcommittee of the American Petroleum Institute and the Regulatory and Technology Committee of the Energy Telecommunications and Electrical Association (ENTELEC) said larger license sizes would be detrimental to critical infrastructure companies.