There’s a reason why Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) is referred to as the Goldilocks of spectrum – it is “just right” when it comes to coverage and capacity. Today, CBRS spectrum is enabling exciting possibilities for emerging technology, community connectedness and innovation.
Read on to become more familiar with CBRS, what makes it unique and the opportunities that are available – for both education and enterprises alike – because of this network option.
What is CBRS?
For technology enthusiasts, CBRS is defined as a band of radio-frequency spectrum, which is a 150 megahertz (MHz) wide broadcast band of the 3.5 gigahertz (GHz) band that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has designated for sharing among certain users.
To envision how CBRS works, think of the LTE your smart phone uses to keep you connected to the internet when you are out of range from a Wifi connection – similarly CBRS is a private LTE connectivity option with the benefits of security and mobility.
Historically, it’s been used by ground satellite providers as well as the U.S. Navy (incumbents who are still using the CBRS), but the FCC made waves in January 2020 by enabling the spectrum for commercial use.
With the expansion of Internet of Things (IoT) technology and the push to expand broadband Internet services, CBRS offers powerful opportunities to connect people and will undoubtedly impact the future of technology. “It falls within the 3.5-3.7 GHz on the spectrum band,” said Brett Lasher, Mobile Private Networks Strategy for Cox Communications’ New Growth & Development Division. “As you get higher up the band, you get higher throughput; CBRS is low enough on the band that you also have great coverage. It’s a very useful part of the spectrum band.”
CBRS FTW [Citizens Band Radio Service for the win]
Here are two aspects of CBRS that make it unique amongst other wireless networks:
1. Because CBRS is LTE compatible, it makes the spectrum ideal for innovative mobility use cases like connected cars and robotics, for example. “Currently, CBRS supports LTE, but with 5G radio devices rolling out [in late 2021], this is going to help drive lower latency, support more simultaneous users and have faster throughputs,” said Paul Blaser, Director of Wireless Technology for Cox Communications.
2. It’s the first available lightly licensed/co-licensed spectrum. As mentioned, Lasher explained that the CBRS band is 150 MHz in width and about half of that (70 MHz) is privately licensed or sold off through licenses. The remaining 80 MHz or a little more than half of the spectrum is allocated for general use: GAA (generally authorized access). “That means that the spectrum is allocated on a first come, first serve basis,” said Lasher. “Because the allocated GAA channels are dedicated it can make for a great use for private networks. It opens up a whole new way of leveraging spectrum for commercial use.”
CBRS: A spectrum of opportunity
Not only is CBRS ideal for video-centric applications like video analytics, Augmented Reality (AR), Extended Reality (XR), Virtual Reality (VR) and much more, one area in which CBRS has been beneficial – especially during the pandemic – has been providing wireless access to students without it. “You can provide a broad canopy of connectivity throughout a neighborhood that now provides a broadband network to enable learning for these students that was not possible before,” said Lasher.
Blaser explained that the CBRS spectrum also allows for tailored usage for IoT because it travels well, has in-building penetration and both priority and general access available bandwidth. “The infrastructure and the diversity of users allows for the potential of lower cost and higher volume LTE devices, which is really key to do a rapid deployment for IoT,” said Blaser. “It’s making the business case work because it’s all about the device cost. You must have a volume of devices and low cost.”
CBRS is one of the four networks that ASU uses on campus innovation. Learn more about CBRS by watching the recording of ASU’s Winter Games presentation: