• Comments were due this week in the FCC’s plan to reform the shared CBRS band
  • AT&T’s proposal is rather drastic, calling for CBRS users to move from 3.5 GHz to the lower 3 GHz portion of the band
  • Existing CBRS users are having none of it 

If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again, right? 

That’s sort of what AT&T is doing with its proposal to move the Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) from its current 3.5 GHz residence to the 3.1-3.3 GHz portion of the band, with the idea of auctioning off 3.55-3.7 GHz for licensed, full-power use.

Current users of the 3.5 GHz band rejected the idea last month, but that didn’t stop AT&T from formally submitting it to the FCC this week. AT&T’s proposal was part of a steady stream of comments at the FCC as responses to proposed CBRS reforms came due November 6.

The FCC’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) considers various ways to improve on the CBRS framework. Besides AT&T, Federated Wireless, Ericsson, Google, John Deere, EchoStar, Verizon and T-Mobile are some of the stakeholders chiming in with ideas on how to make it all work better. And the stakes are high as the 3 GHz band is home to the kind of mid-band spectrum that’s super valuable in the 5G era and spectrum is as scarce as ever. 

One of the big concerns with CBRS among mobile operators is the power levels – they generally want to see higher power levels in the CBRS band and changes to out-of-band emissions. However, smaller Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs) and cable companies like Comcast and Charter Communications argue that lower power levels and existing out-of-band emissions are exactly what makes the CBRS band easy to use for a wide variety of users and business models.

AT&T’s idea

AT&T’s proposal takes it one big step further by moving the entire CBRS ecosystem downriver, to the 3.1-3.3 GHz. It argues that 10 years in, the CBRS band is under-used, delivering little value and taking up valuable mid-band spectrum that could be better used for 5G. The Department of Defense (DoD) favors sharing over giving up any spectrum in the 3.1-3.3 GHz band, making it a logical home for a relocated CBRS ecosystem, according to AT&T.

Using an incentive auction to move current users to the lower portion of the band, the 3.5 GHz portion – which sits between the 3.45 GHz and C-band at 3.7 GHz – could then be used to create one big contiguous 5G “Goldilocks” band for new, exclusively-licensed full power mobile applications.

WISPA doesn’t like it

That’s a big and kind of crazy ask, according to Richard Bernhardt, VP of Spectrum and Industry at industry association WISPA, which represents hundreds of WISPs across the country.

WISPA members and others that are using the band have invested “massive amounts of money” in buying CBRS equipment, which likely will not be usable in the lower 3 GHz. “They have invested planning, client acquisition and strategy and all the rest based on where they’re located. They can’t get that back,” he told Fierce.

“The cellular industry is looking for as much licensed exclusive use spectrum in the band as they can get,” he said. “You know what? I want jelly beans and chocolate bars for Christmas too.”

But it’s an old-fashioned way of looking at things, he said. “We’ve run out of spectrum. If you want to make spectrum more available, you have to be more efficient and effective with its use,” and that includes sharing, he added.

“This is all fantasy. To AT&T’s credit, they participated fully in the formation of CBRS and now they seem to want to participate fully in its destruction because they’re not using it. But look at Verizon, who’s the No. 2 user of CBRS. They seem interested,” Bernhardt said.

Indeed, it must be interesting times at CTIA, which represents all the big wireless carriers. AT&T wants to relocate CBRS. Verizon uses CBRS and is advocating for better usage of the band. T-Mobile wants the FCC to continue its “experimental” approach to the 3.5 GHz band and ongoing evaluation of how it’s doing.

Analysts: No reason to upend CBRS

Even with a new Trump administration, analysts don’t see AT&T’s plan coming to fruition.

Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile Experts, said it’s an interesting idea. However, “I think it’s very unlikely that the FCC and the industry will adopt AT&T’s proposal to move everything around.”

“There are incumbent users in both bands that will raise serious objections, and I don’t see a compelling reason (whatever your political position) to upend multiple industries here,” Madden told Fierce. “The evolution of CBRS 2.0 is a more likely outcome, with higher power levels and other changes to make the existing CBRS scheme work better.”

Senza Fili President Monica Paolini said she has no insight on how the new administration may affect what happens in the CBRS band.

However, changing the frequency allocation is always a complex and expensive effort because it requires an investment from those who have already invested in the infrastructure. “This is especially a challenge if there are many entities – and not just mobile operators – using the band,” she said.

It’s true that CBRS has not been as successful as anticipated, but the main reason is not the lack of potential or interest, she added. “It is the complexity of the CBRS framework and the fact that, using a novel approach to spectrum use, adoption takes time. Technology and products may be available, but getting enterprises to adopt them takes time,” she said, noting the time it took Wi-Fi to take hold.

“Instead of reallocating the spectrum, we can make the CBRS platform more user friendly, and there have been efforts in that direction,” she concluded. “Getting wider adoption of private networks is going to be beneficial for the enterprises, vendors and service providers.”