The forecast for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) points towards growth as a result of the new FCC rules that decreased dynamic protection areas and increased power levels last year, according to Joe Madden, principal analyst at Mobile Experts. The report, Implications of CBRS 2.0 and Beyond, shows expected growth for CBRS in the fixed wireless, mobile broadband, and private cellular categories.
Last year, the FCC notified certified Spectrum Access System (SAS) administrators that they would be permitted to implement changes to the existing aggregate interference model used to protect federal operations in the 3.55-3.7 GHz (3.5 GHz) band from CBRS operations. As a result of the changes, Dynamic Protection Area (DPA) areas along the coastlines, where CBRS networks have to be shut down in the presence of Naval radar activity, can be reduced in size and the power levels of CBRS networks can be increased.
Before the rule change, if the Navy wanted to use its radar within that band, huge areas of the country would have to be shut down to CBRS use, and acceptable power levels would be low.
“The previous rules left people disappointed with the performance of CBRS,” Madden said. “But now that’s changing. With smaller exclusion zones and increased power, CBRS will work better. I think the people that have been disappointed in the last four or five years will begin to change their minds.”
SAS administrators that implement the FCC’s suggested changes should be able to authorize service to approximately 72 million more people (for a total of approximately 240 million) nationwide — including millions of people in major metro areas like Atlanta, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Antonio, and Pittsburgh — without periodic service adjustments to protect federal operations.
While CBRS has seen some success in fixed wireless applications, it has underperformed in private wireless and mobile offloading, according to Madden. “These new rules will make CBRS more successful in all three of those applications,” he said. “So we’re going to see more usage in mobile applications and more usage in private wireless, and that’s going to make it a more diverse field, with more products and more use cases out there.”
In a blog post earlier this month, the OnGo Alliance pointed out several deployments where CBRS-based private 5G networks were used to help automate warehouse environments.
In Dallas/Fort Worth, a private LTE/5G network has been deployed in Teltech Group’s 200,000 square-foot warehouse to support robots, automated forklifts, and drones for inventory management.
In Albany, Ga., the U.S. Department of Defense has implemented a CBRS-based private 5G network in a Marine Corps Logistics Base. The smart warehouse deployment incorporates robotics, advanced scanning systems, and augmented reality applications to improve the receiving, storing, and issuing of materials for global operations.
“Warehouses struggle with traditional networks that create dead zones and security vulnerabilities, while CBRS-based private 5G networks offer superior coverage, reliability, and security with fewer access points, enabling seamless operation of mission-critical applications like automated vehicles and real-time inventory tracking,” OnGo writes.
