3.5 GHz ready to support three Verizon-sized networks on TD-LTE

150 MHz shared coming available in U.S., 3GPP Band 42 in many other countries. Most of the U.S. spectrum around 3.5 GHz was reserved for government use, mostly Navy radar. It's unused in most of the country, and now is becoming available for consumer services. The Broadband Plan in 2010 set a goal of making available 500 MHz of spectrum. Now a 3.5 GHz eco-system is developing in the U.S., driven by the demands of AT&T and Comcast. CableLabs, Ericsson, Google, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm and a dozen others have formed the CBRS Alliance, pr below. Their goal is to "Drive technology developments necessary to fulfill the mission, including multi-operator LTE capabilities" and to "Establish an effective product certification program for LTE equipment in the US 3.5 GHz band ensuring multi-vendor interoperability." Ruckus Wireless has some of the most ambitious plans, releasing OpenG, which combines the management built into their Wi-Fi products with 3.5 GHz for a heckuva fast gateway.

In other parts of the world, the spectrum will be used for ordinary TD-LTE service.

David Wright of Ruckus tells me the three main Japanese carriers have already released phones supporting 3.5 band 42. Major chipmakers are supporting 42 and the adjacent band 43; Broadcom/Avago is ready with analog components. Among those ready to go are the remaining WiMAX providers; TD-LTE includes so much of the work Arogyaswami Paulraj did to develop WiMAX that some consider it a variant.

In the U.S., the quiet heroes included John Leibowitz at the FCC, Larry Strickling of NTIA and several who worked on the PCAST report and prefer to remain out of the limelight. PCAST - and the cogency of the argument - is convincing people around the world that sharing spectrum is the way to go.

Verizon and AT&T are using 40 MHz for LTE and looking forward to their share of the 150 MHz at 3.5. 

 

AT&T, Ericsson and Other Market Leaders Join the CBRS Alliance

Twelve more companies join Alliance to solve wireless data demands and make LTE-based solutions widely available

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--()--The CBRS Alliance announced today that Accelleran, Airspan Networks, American Tower Corp., AT&T, Baicells, CableLabs, Ericsson, ExteNet Systems, Nsight, Ranzure Networks, Rise Broadband, and ZTE USA have joined the Alliance to drive technology development and adoption of LTE-based solutions for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). These companies represent the wide range of ecosystem partners that will accelerate innovation and spur economic growth.

In February 2016, six wireless technology leaders announced their commitment to build an ecosystem of industry participants and make LTE-based solutions in the CBRS band widely available. In August, these companies unveiled the launch of the CBRS Alliance to develop, market and promote LTE-based solutions utilizing the shared spectrum of the U.S. 3.5 GHz CBRS band. The six companies — Access Technologies (Alphabet), Federated Wireless, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ruckus Wireless (now part of Brocade) — believe that access to LTE-based solutions in the US 3.5 GHz frequency band will be a critical tool to meet rapidly expanding wireless data demands.

“For LTE-based solutions in the shared CBRS band to be successful, we need a wide range of ecosystem partners, infrastructure, equipment and network providers, to work together closely,” said Michael Peeters, vice president Innovation Portfolio, Nokia and President of the CBRS Alliance. “We are thrilled to welcome all the new members to the CBRS Alliance and look forward to working together to provide solutions toward in-building and outdoor cellular coverage.”

“CBRS is creating opportunities to bring the benefits of LTE technology to a wider ecosystem,” said Neville Meijers, VP Business Development, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., and chairman of the board for the CBRS Alliance. “CBRS enables new kinds of deployments and business models, from LTE-based neutral hosts that can serve multiple service providers, to dedicated networks serving various entities such as enterprises or IoT verticals.”

Back in April 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules for CBRS, which opens 150 MHz of spectrum (3550-3700 MHz) for commercial use — while providing necessary protection of incumbent users of the band. Spectrum access is actively coordinated based on priority and granular location, making previously allocated spectrum available to new entrants and services.

To learn more about the CBRS Alliance, and to find out how you can become a member, please visit http://www.cbrsalliance.org/.

Industry Leaders Launch Alliance to Drive Deployment of LTE-based Solutions for the US 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service

CBRS Alliance launches initiatives with participation from Access Technologies (Alphabet), Federated Wireless, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ruckus Wireless and appoints Chairman

SUNNYVALE, Calif.--()--Six wireless technology leaders today announced the launch of the CBRS Alliance to develop, market and promote LTE-based solutions utilizing the shared spectrum of the U.S. 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band. The six companies —Access Technologies (Alphabet), Federated Wireless, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ruckus Wireless (now part of Brocade)— believe that access to spectrum in the 3.5 GHz frequency band will be critical to meet rapidly expanding wireless data demands.

In February, the companies announced their commitment to build an ecosystem of industry participants and make LTE-based solutions in the CBRS band widely available. This followed the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) ruling for CBRS, which opened 150 MHz of spectrum (3550-3700 MHz) for commercial use. The Alliance also actively supports the Wireless Innovation Forum’s efforts to develop and drive the adoption of standards around the unique aspects of operation in the CBRS band, which include providing standardized radio interfaces to the spectrum access system (SAS), interfaces between SASs, protection of federal and incumbent use operations, and managing the coexistence among those sharing the band.

With the impending allocations of 3400-3600 MHz for IMT in several countries, there is increased demand for LTE solutions worldwide, creating economies of scale. The Alliance believes that LTE-based solutions in the CBRS band, utilizing shared spectrum, can enable both in-building and outdoor coverage and capacity expansion at massive scale. In order to maximize CBRS’s full potential, the CBRS Alliance aims to enable a robust ecosystem towards making LTE CBRS solutions available.

“There is ever-growing demand for LTE-based solutions in 3.5 GHz bands and expansion of the wireless footprint,” said Neville Meijers, vice president business development for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., and chairman of the board for the CBRS Alliance. “Working together, the CBRS Alliance aims to enable the entire industry to address demand by expanding the capacity of new technologies.”

The Alliance will work towards LTE CBRS field trials in the second half of this year and is developing an official certification process towards successful deployments of CBRS infrastructure.

“With 80 percent of the data consumed indoors and 95 percent of the radio access network (RAN) Capex allocated to the outdoors, new solutions that produce negligible interference with legacy macro and Wi-Fi systems and are inherently designed to support multiple operators will likely play an essential role to normalize the location asymmetry between data consumption and mobile infrastructure investment,” said Stefan Pongratz, senior director, carrier economics and mobile RAN market research at Dell’Oro Group.

For more information, please go to the Alliance website at www.cbrsalliance.org.

ABOUT ACCESS TECHNOLOGIES