Draft Report and Order looks to unleash up to 150 megahertz of new spectrum for unlicensed, small cell use
The Federal Communications Commission took the next step in freeing up 100 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band as Chairman Tom Wheeler late last week circulated a draft Report and Order to FCC commissioners tied to the so-called Citizens Broadband Radio Service.
The order touts a 3-tiered sharing plan for the unlicensed band based on levels of priority access. The “lowest” tier is dubbed general authorized access and is an unlicensed option open to anyone with an FCC-certified device.
The next tier is called priority access and requires a user to acquire through an auction process “targeted, short-duration licenses that provide interference protection from GAA users.” This tier ,along with the lower tier, is seen as potentially being used for small cell deployments by commercial mobile operators.
The top tier is reserved for incumbent federal and commercial radar, satellite and other users that will receive protection from all other users in the band. These users include military use for radar systems, with the FCC noting work with the National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of Defense to develop specific zones around the nation’s coasts where commercial users would not be allowed access to the spectrum.
The FCC explained the sharing system as a spectrum access system that uses cloud computing technology for spectrum management. The SAS system would operate similar to the TV White Spaces database operated by Google in governing use of the 3550-3650 MHz bands.
The FCC said it is continuing to look at potentially extending the spectrum allocation an additional 50 megahertz up to the 3700 MHz band, which is currently used by the federal government in just a few locations.
The FCC initially began work on the CBRS band in late 2012, releasing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for the 3.5 GHz band designed to “promote two major advances that enable more efficient use of radio spectrum: small cells and spectrum sharing.”
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