Anxiety Rising for Some as O'Rielly Finalizes CBRS Plan
FCC Commissioner Mike O’Rielly is keeping his plans for the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band close to his chest. O’Rielly said last week he has started to share his long-awaited proposal with Chairman Ajit Pai (see 1807120033). Some industry officials who favor smaller geographic license sizes for the priority access licenses that will be offered in the band are hearing that O’Rielly is proposing a plan similar to what was proposed by CTIA and the Competitive Carriers Association. Other industry and FCC officials urged caution before drawing conclusions but said the proposal seems unlikely to get the full support of the commission, especially Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel.
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Groups that favor smaller license sizes are asking for meetings at the FCC to make their case, industry officials said. Most expect a vote by commissioners at their Sept. 26 meeting.
In April, CTIA and CCA proposed that the FCC license PALs using metropolitan statistical areas in the top 306 cellular market areas and use county-based geographic area licenses in the remaining 428 CMAs (see 1804230064). The PALs share the band with general authorized access (GAA) users and incumbents, mainly Navy radars.
“I suspect the proposal isn’t going to make Rosenworcel do her happy dance,” said free-market engineer Richard Bennett. During a recent High Tech Forum podcast, “O’Rielly observed that he wouldn’t have placed CBRS where it is on the spectrum map if he were starting with a blank tablet,” Bennett told us. “CBRS has shown no signs of being able to live up to its hype, and I expect the FCC to recognize that by pushing spectrum policy for this band toward 5G utilization.”
On the podcast, O’Rielly said the spectrum would today more likely be looked at as mid-band spectrum for 5G rather than for CBRS. “You wouldn’t have CBRS where it’s located if this weren’t started so long ago,” O'Rielly said. “You would have it somewhere else.”
The Wireless ISP Association is happy O’Rielly worked with WISPs on the PALs, said President Claude Aiken. “We are confident he understands the needs of small rural broadband providers, and hopeful that the seven priority access licenses at issue will contain at least a couple of census tract-sized licenses,” Aiken told us. “WISPA members stand ready to participate in an upcoming auction, but census tract-sized licenses are critical to robust WISP participation."
“Although it has turned out to be significantly more complicated than first envisioned, the good news is that the complexity has been caused by the very strong interest in the CBRS band that has been expressed by not only the large mobile operators, but also rural ISPs as well as others such as building owners, campuses, industrial IoT interests and others,” said Dynamic Spectrum Alliance President Kalpak Gude. “We continue to urge the commission to ensure that all interested parties have an opportunity to gain access to both PAL and GAA spectrum, both in urban and rural areas. This was what was promised in the FCC's original order in this proceeding and what has driven research and investment in the CBRS band since that time.” Success will be determined if the FCC ensures opportunities for all parties, Gude told us. “We remain hopeful that they will.”
O’Rielly said at last week’s news conference he doesn’t like to see proceedings drag out, noted Doug Brake, director-spectrum policy at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation. "I couldn't agree more," he said. “The 3.5 rules maybe weren’t perfect, but there was still a ton of momentum behind the band."
“Freeing up mid-band spectrum is critical to winning the global race to 5G, especially as other countries are already moving to license 3.5GHz spectrum on a national basis," a CTIA spokesperson said. "Larger geographical licenses, longer license terms and an expectation of license renewal are key to attracting the necessary investment to make 3.5GHz a success across the United States.” The FCC and the CCA didn’t comment.