- CBRS has changed how private networking and rural FWA have been deployed in the U.S.
- John Deere, BMW, Tesla, Nokia and others are using 3.5 GHz band for industrial modernization
- That could all change for the worst with the passage of the BBB
Changing how shared spectrum is delivered in the United States could significantly dent the progress two of the shining stars of the 5G market stateside. But that's exactly what seems poised to happen.
It seems the Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) band is under attack – or if not attack, it is at least vulnerable to significant disruption – with proposals calling for relocation of the hundreds of thousands of users on that spectrum.
But this could render many of the private networks already deployed in the CBRS spectrum null and void. That wouldn't be good for a niche-but-growing part of the cellular industry. And it certainly wouldn't be good for private network startups, like Celona, that have made their name using CBRS spectrum to deliver these networks.
Where things stand
The CBRS band is a 150 MHz tranche of the 3.5 GHz (3550 MHz to 3700 MHz) band that has greatly increased the deployment of rural fixed wireless access in the U.S. CBRS is also one of key aspects in enabling the widespread deployment of 4G and 5G private networks in the country.
How did it come to be so vital? Well, back in 2020 the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auctioned off priority access licenses (PALs) to mobile operators and lots of smaller wireless internet service providers (WISPs) and even some utilities. Others without the cash or inclination to buy licenses are also able to access the band via a general authorized access (GAA) tier. Top priority access to the band, however, is provided to the incumbent military and satellite users who occupied it before the auction.
This shared spectrum scheme has been wildly successful. Wireless ISPs and some enterprises are using the PAL spectrum for fixed wireless access broadband and private networks. A slew of other companies have put the GAA spectrum to use for many, many CBRS-based 4G and 5G private networks. All-told, there are 400,000 end users accessing the band today.
Currently, major users of the CBRS band include entities like John Deere, venues such as the Dallas Fort-Worth (DFW) Airport and vendors like Nokia for its U.S. private networking business. The many smaller users that are using CBRS for private networks have enabled startups like Celona to kick-start their private network business.
The recently passed budget reconciliation bill, however, could bring big changes to the CBRS landscape. The bill doesn’t exclude the CBRS band from an auction, leaving it vulnerable to a sale or major disruption, industry group WISPA has warned.
AT&T had already proposed moving CBRS to the 3.1-3.3 GHz portion of the band in order to free up spectrum in the 3.5 GHz range for wireless carriers to bid on. A Department of Defense (DoD) proposal floating around Washington, D.C. this spring seemed to support that idea.
But if this happens it could have dramatic effects on the private and fixed wireless situation in the United States. PAL and GAA users that have invested time and money to utilize the spectrum will be forced to navigate a complicated and costly relocation process.
This could take years and it's not at all clear that there is suitable spectrum available for auction that could take the place of CBRS. That's bad for the private networks that have taken off because the networks were laid out in an open shared spectrum situation.
Private network jitters
As WISPA has argued “forcible relocation of CBRS to another band could relegate hundreds of licensees that acquired thousands of PALs at Auction 105 – many of which are WISPA members and other smaller companies – to another band with fundamentally different propagation or incumbency characteristics for the benefit of a few mobile wireless carriers seeking to create a de facto contiguous band from 3.45-3.98 GHz.”
This would, as WISPA pointed out, have a dramatic effect on private networks and fixed wireless access deployments. They note that moving CBRS users to another band would require several years, probably an auction process and likely not give current users adequate compensation.
Remember that SNS Telecom & IT said in a report that private 5G could reach $800 million in annual spending by 2027. We know that Tesla and BMW - and many others - are already using private 5G on CBRS, though private 4G LTE is still dominant. But that kind of private 5G spending may be up in the air, if actions on CBRS spectrum go ahead in the way that they seem like they may do.
Op-eds from industry experts, analysts or our editorial staff are opinion pieces that do not represent the opinions of Fierce Network.