Google to retire CBRS network planning tool

Roughly five years after introducing the service, Google said it will "deprecate" its 3.5GHz CBRS network planning tool by the end of this year.

Google officials didn't immediately respond to Light Reading's questions about its decision. On its website, Google offers tips on how users can export their data from their Network Planner projects.

"It's really a shame," Richard Bernhardt, SVP of spectrum and industry for WISPA, told Light Reading. WISPA is a trade association that represents small fixed wireless Internet operators, many of which run services through the 3.5GHz CBRS spectrum band.

Google first introduced the network planning tool at a WISPA trade show in 2019. The offering provides 3D modeling of terrain, trees, streets, buildings and other objects. It also uses Google Cloud compute to display RF propagation models, individual link analysis, and heat maps based on real-world data.

"Google Network Planner is an accurate, fast, easy-to-use tool that is integrated with Google geospatial data for highly accurate (1 meter resolution) visualization," explained Tarana Wireless in a 25-page document detailing how fixed wireless operators can use the tool to deploy its products. "Tarana recommends the use of Google Network Planner where available to achieve accurate, high quality results."

Alternatives exist

Bernhardt and others working in the CBRS industry argued that the end of Google's CBRS network planner is unfortunate but not a major roadblock.

"There are others that do provide tools," Bernhardt said, acknowledging that "it's not going to destroy the market by not having it there." But he cautioned that other tools might not be free like Google's tool is.

Indeed, Federated Wireless just this month announced the general availability of its new Adaptive Network Planner (ANP), which the company said is an AI-powered tool for fixed wireless and private wireless network deployments. Others offering network planning tools include Auvik Networks and Hamina Wireless.

"It takes investment and commitment to support the planning tool. Google was treating this tool with selective intent, rolling it out to some customers, but not a wide distribution," Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi told Light Reading. "In my assessment they were using it to test the market and how to enable more connectivity solutions. They decided to scale back their investment in connectivity, most likely to focus on AI and other priorities."

Bernhardt said he hopes that others in the industry might pick up where Google is leaving off. "It's been a tool that quite a few WISPs (wireless Internet service providers) use," he said, noting the product's integration with Google Earth is "outstanding."

"Google is a business and, like any other business, they have to make money with what they're doing," Bernhardt added.

Google has a reputation for retiring free but popular online tools. The "Google Graveyard" website tracks such shuttered products – from the Google+ social network to the Google RSS reader – and there are hundreds.

"It's not a troubling sign. I think CBRS is as strong as ever," Bernhardt said.

The bigger story

Led by executives like Preston Marshall and Andrew Clegg, Google has been pivotal in getting the CBRS sector off the ground. The company also operates one of two Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) networks for shared spectrum operations in the band. Federated Wireless operates the other.

ESC networks help track federal CBRS users like the US Navy. They then communicate with companies like Google and Federated, which operate the Spectrum Access System (SAS) databases that manage CBRS transmissions.

But the CBRS industry broadly has been under fire recently as big companies in the cellular industry argue the 3.5GHz spectrum band is underused.

"We can and should do better with this prime spectrum," wrote Rhonda Johnson, AT&T's EVP of Federal Regulatory Relations, in a recent post to the operator's website. Johnson proposed an incentive auction of the band, using the proceeds to finance the relocation of current CBRS operations out of the band.

Supporters of the band – including smaller wireless Internet providers and cable companies – have rejected the notion that the band is wasted. But that debate underpins a bigger battle brewing over the future of spectrum licensing in the US. The cellular industry continues to favor exclusive licensing scenarios, but cable companies and others argue that the spectrum sharing mechanisms developed for the CBRS band ought to be extended into other bands.