Federated Wireless has been conditionally approved as an automated frequency coordination (AFC) system operator by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), to go alongside its role as gatekeeper for CBRS spectrum access for private cellular deployments in the US. The firm has already struck commercial deals with Wi-Fi device manufacturers to enable access to the 6 GHz band for indoor and outdoor Wi-Fi 6E devices.
The company said the Wi-Fi makers it has signed with cover 50 percent of the global supply market for outdoor wireless local-area-network (WLAN) access points. Deals with these vendors will bring standard power and outdoor Wi-Fi 6E access point operation online “at a lightning pace”, it said. Federated Wireless is running a spectrum access system (SAS) for private and shared cellular LTE and 5G in the 3.55-3.7 GHz ‘CBRS’ band; the latest AFC duties would see it cover the unlicensed 6 GHz band for Wi-Fi, as well.
A statement said: “Fixed wireless access will be a critical technology in the 6 GHz band. Fixed wireless operators were one of the earliest adopters of shared spectrum technology through the use of the CBRS band. Federated Wireless is pleased to announce it has also signed a commercial agreement with a leading 4G/5G equipment manufacturer that specializes in fixed wireless access points. The commercial partnership between the two companies will allow the fixed wireless market to utilize 850 MHz of the 6 GHz band for standard power operation.
National regulators in Brazil, Canada, Saudi Arabia, among others, are also in the process of authorizing unlicensed device use of the 6 GHz band in conjunction with an AFC for standard power and outdoor operations. Federated Wireless said it “looks forward to joining forces with our current and future Wi-Fi equipment partners to launch this exciting new capability globally and accelerate industrial digital transformation and connect the unconnected”.
Kurt Schaubach, chief technology officer at Federated Wireless, said: “Standard power and outdoor Wi-Fi access points will provide the necessary capacity to unleash industry-changing use cases for wireless technology. Our team has been hard at work building and demonstrating, both domestically and internationally, a best-in-class AFC solution that will enable rapid standard power and outdoor access point deployment in the 6 GHz band.”
Iyad Tarazi, president and chief executive at Federated Wireless, said: “Wireless technology has the ability to positively impact how we interact with the world. Through the 6 GHz band, standard power devices will facilitate use cases that need multi-gigabit speeds to support high-definition video streaming and augmented/virtual reality, such as telehealth, robotics, and industrial automation. Our conditional approval is another proof point that the Federated Wireless team is the best in the industry [at] developing shared spectrum solutions.”
