AT&T proposes moving CBRS users via incentive auction

Verizon, Charter, AWS and others currently use the CBRS band for a variety of wireless services. But an AT&T proposal would upend those operations by shifting CBRS users to another portion of the band.

Mike Dano, Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies

October 9, 2024

5 Min Read
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(Source: Zoonar GmbH/Alamy Stock Photo)

AT&T is urging federal regulators to move existing CBRS spectrum users to a different portion of the 3GHz band. The company said the FCC could do so by conducting an incentive auction and using the proceeds from that auction to finance the relocation of current CBRS operations.

"We propose an incentive auction that builds upon the success of the FCC's prior incentive auctions in the 600 MHz and 39 GHz bands," AT&T argued on its website, in a post by Rhonda Johnson, AT&T's EVP of Federal Regulatory Relations. "Current CBRS PAL [spectrum license] holders would have the choice of relocating to the new CBRS band, accepting vouchers they can use toward bidding on new high-power licenses, or receiving a cash payment in exchange for the relinquishment of their priority rights."

AT&T's broad goal is to free up the 3.55GHz-3.7GHz band for high-power, licensed operations – the kind of operations its 5G network currently uses.

"This approach would give the US 530 MHz of contiguous licensed midband spectrum to support 5G, with potential future expansion at both ends of the band," AT&T explained.

However, the company's proposal would have a dramatic impact on current users of the CBRS band, including Verizon, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Charter Communications and others. The CBRS band currently supports almost 400,000 access points across the US, according to the OnGo Alliance CBRS trade association, that run services ranging from fixed wireless to private wireless networks to IoT offerings.

Representatives from Verizon, Charter, the OnGo Alliance and other CBRS users did not immediately respond to questions from Light Reading about AT&T's proposal.

Update: The NCTA – a trade association representing many cable providers – provided this response to Light Reading: "It is evident that cable's insurgency in the mobile service marketplace is benefitting tens of millions of consumers with significant savings every month and is scaring the traditional carriers into developing aggressive spectrum hoarding strategies that would harm the competitive marketplace," NCTA said. "AT&T's proposal to reallocate the 3 GHz band should be seen for what it is – a desperate attempt to thwart competition and punish the many businesses, communities, and consumers who made good-faith investments in reliance on the FCC's innovative CBRS framework."

Similarly, the Spectrum for the Future trade group – which represents cable companies and others in the industry – rejected AT&T's proposal.

"Rather than make a good-faith suggestion for improving CBRS, AT&T is simply proposing to restrict others' use of spectrum, short-circuit innovation, threaten military services, and undermine America's future global leadership in spectrum sharing technologies. The future of spectrum is shared, and we shouldn't be wasting time with anti-competitive proposals to roll back the clock," said Tamara Smith, spokesperson for Spectrum for the Future, in a statement distributed to the media.

Updates and proposals

Opened for commercial operations several years ago, the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum band stretches from 3.55GHz to 3.7GHz and includes several "tiers" of users including licensed Priority Access License (PAL) users and unlicensed General Authorized Access (GAA) users. Under a novel spectrum management mechanism, the band is shared among commercial and military users.

However, the band has been the scene of bitter arguments, including whether it is underused. Due to current FCC rules governing power levels in the CBRS band, it is considered unsuited for high-powered systems like nationwide, commercial 5G networks.

In August, the FCC said it would consider some new rules for operations in the band. Those new rules could, for example, expand the scope of existing commercial CBRS deployments, and expand the reach of the band into some new locations.

But in its new proposal, AT&T said the agency should avoid attempting to "bolt" new features onto the band with minor rule adjustments. Instead, the company said the FCC should "consider the bigger picture, and how evolutions in the spectrum environment have changed the highest and best use of this prime midband spectrum."

Specifically, AT&T said current CBRS operations should be moved from the 3.55GHz-3.7GHz band and into the 3.1GHz-3.3GHz band. "This would expand the amount of spectrum available for General Authorized Access (GAA) uses from 150 MHz to 200 MHz, with the option of incorporating additional PAL blocks in the new band," the company said.

Doing so, AT&T said, would free up the 3.55GHz-3.7GHz band so that it could be auctioned off for licensed, high-power use. And that would also position the 3.55GHz-3.7GHz band to work alongside the 3.45GHz-3.55GHz and 3.7GHz-3.98GHz bands, which are already used by AT&T and others for high-power 5G operations.

AT&T said expanding and unifying high-power 5G operations across 3GHz in general would make the band "the centerpiece of wireless innovation in the US as it is around the world."

CBRS proponents and opponents

The CBRS band has been the scene of plenty of debate.

In 2020, the FCC auctioned licenses in the band, with Verizon, Comcast and Charter among the big winners. Verizon has been using CBRS spectrum to bolster its 4G and 5G wireless network in some locations. Comcast, Charter and other cable companies have said they intend to build small-scale 5G networks in support of their mobile aspirations.

And in the unlicensed portion of the band, a variety of players from AWS to Celona have been using it in support of their private wireless networking efforts, among other services.

However, the CTIA trade association – which represents big wireless network operators like AT&T and Verizon – has argued that the CBRS band is largely unused. CBRS proponents reject that argument.

CTIA has long urged regulators to release more high-power licensed spectrum for the 5G industry, particularly midband spectrum like that in 3GHz.

Finally, bubbling under the CBRS debate is an ongoing battle between the wireless industry and the cable industry. Cable industry lobbyists have been working to prevent wireless players from obtaining more high-powered spectrum – spectrum that could be used for the fixed wireless services that are threatening their core Internet businesses.

About the Author

Mike Dano

Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading

Mike Dano is Light Reading's Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies. Mike can be reached at [email protected], @mikeddano or on LinkedIn.

Based in Denver, Mike has covered the wireless industry as a journalist for almost two decades, first at RCR Wireless News and then at FierceWireless and recalls once writing a story about the transition from black and white to color screens on cell phones.

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