The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved full-scale commercial deployment of a shared spectrum platform in the 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band. The effort, which eventually gathered interest and buy-in from multiple federal agencies and 159 members of the CBRS Alliance, including a who’s who of technology and telecom, got underway in 2013.
Shared spectrum is, for many, a third rail in U.S. politics, and that probably explains why it took so long to reach this point. “One of the things I’ve learned in Washington is that there are three things you do not discuss in polite society: religion, politics, and sharing of spectrum,” FCC Chair Ajit Pai said earlier this month during an on-stage interview at CES 2020.
“There’s got to be a way for us to share some of these spectrum assets in a way that ultimately benefits consumers,” he said. “Remember this is, at the end of the day, a public resource and our top mission at the FCC, and regardless of any band, is to make sure those public resources are being deployed for the benefit of the American people. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
In approving commercial CBRS deployments, which includes spectrum in the 3.55-3.7 GHz band, the FCC also established a group of Spectrum Access System administrators that are now approved to operate commercial services in the band. The group is comprised of CommScope, Federated Wireless, Google, and Sony.
“Over the past six years our members have contributed incredible amounts of time, energy, and innovation to address the need for reliable, cost-effective wireless services and have now made OnGo a reality,” CBRS Alliance President Dave Wright said in a prepared statement. He added that the group includes representation from multiple business sectors, including mobile, cable, rural, enterprise, and industrial.
The CBRS Alliance estimates that the opening of the band, which is being marketed as “OnGo,” will contribute up to $15.6 billion to the U.S. economy. It will enable 4G LTE systems, followed by 5G New Radio (NR) later this year, and is largely expected to be used for in-building coverage, public spaces, and industrial IoT applications, according to the alliance.
“The CBRS Alliance and OnGo program have captured the imagination of operations, regulators, and vendors around the world as a model for using spectrum that unlocks significant value,” said Chris DePuy, analyst at 650 Group, in a prepared statement. “As we enter 2020, we will see OnGo used both as a reliable backhaul mechanism to other networks, such as WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, and Ethernet, and to some innovative end-user devices.”
The framework for CBRS follows a three-tiered system — incumbent, priority access, and general authorized access — to ensure that incumbent users of the unlicensed portion of the spectrum don’t suffer interference or service interruptions. The FCC plans to hold an auction in June for licensed spectrum in the band.