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Will the Success of the PAL Auction Lead to Commercial Success for CBRS?

Will the Success of the PAL Auction Lead to Commercial Success for CBRS? Image Credit: Andrey Suslov/Bigstockphoto.com

With the recent completion of the CBRS PAL auction, the FCC succeeded in showing the demand for spectrum remains hot, as they raised more than $4.58B from a variety of entities looking to get their own "prioritized" piece of the 3.5GHz spectrum pie. More than 90% of the bidders won at least one license, and Dish Network, bidding under the name of Wetterhorn Wireless LLC, invested almost $913 M to bring home 5,492 licenses.

Kudos to the winners! But when will they be able to use their prioritized licenses? The Spectrum Access System (SAS) vendors are in the process of incorporating the list of winners into their prioritization rules to ensure that the winners get access to their "almost reserved" spectrum. It is not clear how long those activities will take, but their work does not impede current OnGoTM activities that use the shared spectrum under the GAA privileges.

Which brings up a question: what's the current status of CBRS adoption? Since the FCC gave the green light (back in Sep 2019) for initial commercial deployments, momentum seems to be picking up for OnGo trials, with one analyst firm projecting that revenues from OnGo equipment suppliers may grow from less than $50M in 2019 to over $850M in 2024. In addition to the success of the PAL auction and the positive statements from analysts, several other factors are pointing to success in CBRS.

One example is the healthy ecosystem of suppliers and partners. Vendors of SAS, devices, and integration services are helping businesses and service providers plan and implement OnGo connectivity. As of July, OnGo reports that it has awarded certification to 38 Citizens Broadband Radio Service Devices (CBSDs). GSMA indicates that there are 157 user devices, modules, and other equipment like MiFi/Hotspots that are available from 53 vendors. OnGo also highlights the availability of more than 1,250 Certified Professional Installers (CPIs) who can set up and validate the CBRS-radios for a business or enterprise. And the partnerships being created by the ecosystem, like Federated Wireless partnering with Azure Marketplace and Amazon Web Services to help enterprises buy and deploy private networks, demonstrates the broad solutions that the ecosystem is creating. The ecosystem sure appears to be primed.

The industry is also seeing good momentum from several key network operators, including AT&T, Verizon, and Charter Communications, as well as several enterprise trials and proof of concept systems that are genuinely demonstrating OnGo's potential.

  • AT&T indicated it will be using CBRS-enabled cell sites as part of their fixed wireless broadband service in portions of 18 states, including 170 CBRS sites in Ohio and Tennessee, to help meet its Connect America Fund commitments.

  • Verizon indicated that CBRS can help them boost capacity in high-traffic areas, enterprise locations, stadiums, venues, and airports that need higher 4G LTE capacity. They believe that densely packed areas that are well-suited for small cells and inbuilding options are prime targets for solutions operating in the CBRS spectrum.

  • Charter Communications is bullish on CBRS, stating they are considering OnGo and CBRS for several use cases, starting first with using CBRS as last-mile connectivity for FWA delivery of the "triple play" bundle of data, voice, and video services. Charter is also looking to use dual-SIM smartphones that will handoff between the Verizon-managed macro network and Charter's CBRS-powered small cells to extend their "Wi-Fi-first MVNO." The third area Charter is exploring the use of CBRS to provide private LTE networks to support its growing new business applications and service offerings.

  • From the enterprise perspective, Dallas's Love Field airport, in partnership with Boingo, began operating a CBRS-powered private network trial in 2018. Today, they continue using the network to both improve the experiences of travelers and to augment their internal operations that include support for digital advertising signage, mobile boarding passes, flight arrival/departure status panels, and passenger paging.

  • The startup of the new school year finds a traditional IoT player - MultiTech - expanding into the educational arena. Their solution provides remote connectivity solutions that connect teachers and students using Private-LTE powered virtual classrooms connected by CBRS and traditional cellular networks. Not only does the private network provide the necessary connectivity to homes, but it is also a cost-effective and secure solution that contains costs and protects teachers and students with secure connectivity while in the virtual classroom.

  • Smart City is another target that is seeing success. The City of Dublin (OH) and Fujitsu Network Communications completed the deployment of a CBRS-enabled Smart Parking pilot application for citizens in the high-tech community near Columbus. The trial is part of a larger smart city initiative that intends to increase business success while lowering carbon emissions through shorter drive times.

While it remains to be seen if the success indicated in the PAL auction leads to more commercial deployments of OnGo-powered solutions, it indeed appears that the interest is present. The 76 rounds of PAL bidding certainly show that spectrum is valuable, and the announcements from vendors and service providers indicate that they are ready to deploy. With OnGo's plan to build brand awareness so that the every-day wireless user knows that an OnGo-powered area means good, safe wireless coverage, the pieces are falling into place. The only thing that remains is to see how long it will take for real commercial deployment momentum to appear.

Let's watch to see what another auction of highly touted C-Band spectrum, scheduled in Dec 2020, will bring to move the industry forward.

Author

Ashish Jain is the CEO and Co-Founder of KAIROS Pulse. Ashish has more than 18 years of experience in the fixed and wireless industry. He has successfully led growth strategies for complex telecom software, enterprise networking, and cloud software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, generating over $100M in revenue. A technology and marketing enthusiast with the capability to align complex ideas into simple business values, Ashish is a thought leader and evangelist in 5G, Software-Defined Networking, IoT, AI, AR, and Coud communication industry. He is a regular contributor to many leading publications and regularly speaks at leading industry events. Ashish is a host and producer of the “ALYNMENT” podcast that shares authentic and thought-provoking perspectives on tech2biz alignment challenges.

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