3300-4200 MHz:

A KEY FREQUENCY
BAND FOR 5G
How administrations
can exploit its potential

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

ABOUT THE C–BAND WHITE PAPER
The GSA White Paper addresses
the importance of 3300–4200 MHz
spectrum range for 5G networks
and the societal benefits that
follow from early and widespread
deployment of 5G in this range.
It is intended to help national
administrations and policymakers
who are considering this frequency
range for IMT identification – as well
as those who have decided in its
favour and are currently engaged
in designing appropriate regulatory
frameworks and assignment
procedures – make informed
decisions.
The White Paper updates the June
2017 GSA White Paper titled, The
Future of IMT in the 3300–4200 MHz
Frequency Range, highlighting the
increasing maturity of the 5G global
ecosystem in this frequency range.
The paper provides the current
©Copyright 2020 Global mobile Suppliers Association
status of 5G deployment across the
world in this frequency range and
details 5G’s standards readiness,
new and developing use cases, and
current technology enhancements
that portend greater efficiencies for
industries, richer user experiences
as well as the creation of ‘smart’
societies.
On the policy and regulatory
side, the paper identifies the key
ITU-R decisions facilitating the
identification of this spectrum
for IMT and its use for 5G. It also
addresses a wide set of policy and
regulatory issues, ranging from
those pertaining to cross-border
coordination, spectrum sharing/
clearing and spectrum caps to
those pertaining to frequency
arrangements, channelisation
schemes and national
synchronisation frameworks.
3300-4200 MHz: A KEY FREQUENCY BAND FOR 5G | Executive Summary | 2
A part of the GSA
vision for spectrum
from low, mid and
high band frequency
ranges by 2020
The paper emphasises that national
administrations seeking to secure
the many and varied benefits of
5G for their policies must also
provide wide and contiguous
channel assignments to operators
while simultaneously considering
investment-friendly provisions
and connectivity requirements of
industry verticals.
The executive summary below
provides the principle highlights
of the paper and may be read as a
preview of the issues detailed in the
paper.
 A part of the GSA
vision for spectrum
from low, mid and
high band frequency
ranges by 2020

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The 5G ecosystem – of chipsets, network equipment and handsets as well as other end-user devices – has
developed at an unprecedented speed, maturing within a year of the first 3GPP standards release of 5G-NR (in
the case of LTE, the corresponding time was roughly three years!). Network equipment, smartphones, customer
premises equipment and other types of end-user equipment utilising 5G-NR are now available in various markets in
different spectrum bands, all of which add support for 5G in various parts of the 3300–4200 MHz range, if not the
entire range – that is, for 3GPP bands n77 (3300–4200 MHz) and n78 (3300–3800 MHz).
There are nearly 1401 operators currently investing in 5G networks in the 3300–4200 MHz range globally: 43 of
them are deploying, have deployed, or have launched 5G networks using this spectrum.
This section summarises GSA’s key messages articulated in this White Paper with respect to the importance and the
use of the 3300–4200 MHz range for the early and widespread deployment of 5G.

Spectrum availability Importance of 3300-4200 MHz Growing worldwide support of

National administrations should make
appropriate amounts of contiguous
spectrum available to mobile operators
in a timely manner to facilitate the cost-
effective deployment of 5G networks (that
is, for the deployment of networks using
new 5G radios, or 5G-NR). Making sizeable
new spectrum available by 2020 under
appropriate, investor-friendly regulatory
conditions will facilitate the vision of IMT
connecting almost all the 7+ billion and 100+
billion devices and things worldwide, by
2030.
The spectrum must be made available across
low-, medium- and high-band frequency
ranges, to address both coverage and
capacity issues.
range for 5G
The 3300 - 4200 MHz spectrum range offers
a particularly optimal balance between
coverage and capacity, It is widely held
that this mid-band range will support a
broad array of 5G applications -- from
enhanced Mobile Broadband (including
Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality and Ultra
High Definition video) and Fixed Wireless
Access to a plethora of new and emerging
applications that impact, and are impacted
by, the ongoing digital transformation of
society. These are applications commonly
associated with Industry 4.0, health care,
smart cities and drones.
This mid-band spectrum range has the
additional merit of offering the largest
contiguous bandwidth available for IMT
below 6 GHz. Further, the proximity of
this spectrum range to existing bands in
use for mobile and the implementation of
Massive MIMO / beam-forming techniques
provide potential for the reuse of the
existing infrastructure in areas where dense
networks are deployed, thus delivering
enhanced capacity without incurring network
densification costs.
use of 3300-4200 MHz band for 5G
A growing number of national
administrations are recognizing the
salience of 3300-4200 MHz band for the
deployment of 5G-NR networks, As a result,
administrations across the world are striving
to earmark and/or secure at least 200 MHz
to 400 MHz of contiguous spectrum in this
band for 5G in the short term.
For instance, in Europe, the 3400-3800 MHz
is now broadly accepted as the primary band
for 5G. The ten commercial 5G deployments
in Europe can now leverage the recently
updated CEPT framework for the 5G-NR
air interface and for Massive MIMO base
stations. Some administrations in Europe are
eyeing the opportunity to utilize additional
mid-band spectrum in the 3800-4200
MHz range for 5G, the UK has started the
assignment procedures for this range.

1. GSA, 5G Spectrum C-Band Snapshot, October 2019

©Copyright 2020 Global mobile Suppliers Association 3300-4200 MHz: A KEY FREQUENCY BAND FOR 5G | Executive Summary | 3
3300-4200 MHz band for 5G
continued...
Similarly, Arab administrations in the Middle
East and North Africa (that constitute the
Arab Spectrum Management Group) have
also decided that 3300-3800 MHz range
is key for the introduction of 5G. Five
commercial networks were launched in the
3400-3800 MHz range, some administrations
are also looking at the opportunities in the
3800-4200 MHz range.
COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE
NOW
5G-NR network equipment,
smartphones, customer premises
equipment and other types of end-
user equipment are now available
in various markets, adding support
for 3GPP bands n77 (3300–4200
MHz) and n78 (3300–3800 MHz)
on top of the already available
bands. The commercial availability
of such devices has arrived at an
unprecedented speed – only one
year after the availability of the
first 3GPP 5G-NR standard release –
and over one third of them support
for the n77 and n78 bands.
Commercial services leveraging the
availability of 80–130 MHz frequency
blocks in the 3400–3800 MHz range
have been launched, starting in April
2019 in the Republic of Korea and in
several countries in Europe. Nearly
140 operators are currently investing
in 5G networks in the 3300–4200 MHz
globally; 43 of them are deploying,
have deployed, or have launched 5G
networks using this spectrum. More
efforts are needed in many countries
to enable commercial 5G networks in
the 3300–4200 MHz range to leverage
large contiguous channel bandwidths.
Meanwhile, in the USA, the 3550–3700
MHz range (the CBRS band) has been
made available for 5G on a shared basis.
Additionally, the Mobile Now Act has
proposed further studies of a number of
bands for 5G, including the 3100–3550 MHz
and 3700–4200 MHz ranges. The Federal
Communications Commission (FCC) is also
considering proposals designed to invite
satellite operators with licences in the
3700–4200 MHz range to clear parts of their
assigned spectrum for 5G deployments; the
FCC has indicated its intention to issue an
order setting in motion a public auction of
280 MHz of spectrum (3700–3980 MHz) for
terrestrial mobile services, with incumbent
satellite operators retaining the upper 200
MHz of the band (with a 20 MHz guard band
separating the two services). Regarding the
3100–3550 MHz range, FCC is starting a rule-
making process that proposes to remove
the existing non-federal allocations in the
3300–3550 MHz range as a step towards
potential future shared use between federal
incumbents and new commercial users,
including 5G.
ITU-R decisions
Work carried out during earlier World
Radiocommunication Conferences,
particularly WRC-07 and WRC-15, led to the
identification of the 3400–3600 MHz range
for IMT use throughout ITU Regions 1 and 2
and in many countries in ITU Region 3. This
has helped support the development of an
IMT ecosystem in this frequency band. The
decisions from the WRC-19 have consolidated
the acceptance of the band globally by
adding a number of countries to the IMT
footnotes for the 3300–3700 MHz range and
by including the 3300–3800 MHz range in
the mid-band agenda item for WRC-23.
Frequency arrangements for
3300-4200 MHz
It is widely accepted that the entire 3300–
4200 MHz range will not be available in all
countries in the foreseeable future. The
needs of current incumbent services such as
fixed satellite service (FSS), fixed service (FS)
and radiolocation will continue to require
careful consideration.
As a consequence, administrations
will likely decide which portions of this
spectrum range may be made available
for IMT identification and use at their
national level and at which time, based
on incumbent users as well as national
priorities and strategies. As a result, different
administrations may make different portions
of the 3300–4200 MHz range available for
IMT at different times, incrementally building
large contiguous blocks for use by 5G.
The mobile industry always seeks globally
harmonised spectrum allocations since such
harmonisation invariably results in a broader
ecosystem for technology, equipment, and
engineering expertise, leading to economies
of scale, lower costs for deployment, and
more rapid roll-out of new services. But the
industry recognises the reality that not all
administrations in all regions are likely to
have identical spectrum allocations at the
same time, if ever.
To cope with this reality without forfeiting
the immense benefits of spectrum
harmonisation, the industry has designed
‘tuning range’ solutions for the 3300–4200
MHz spectrum range, in which adjacent or
nearly adjacent bands can be considered
harmonised so long as equipment can be
reconfigured to operate over multiple bands,
i.e., they are within the same ‘tuning range’.

An increasing number of operators and

policymakers in Africa, Asia (particularly
India) and Latin America are also supporting
the harmonisation of the 3300-3400 MHz
and the 3400-3700/3800 MHz bands for the
deployment of 5G.

In addition, the 3400–3700 MHz range was

used for a commercial launch in the Republic
of Korea (April 2019) and for commercial
services in China launched by two operators
(November 2019). In Japan, the entire
3400–4100 MHz range was assigned to
mobile operators. Australia is looking at the
sharing opportunities between 5G and FSS
in the 3800–4200 MHz range.

©Copyright 2020 Global mobile Suppliers Association 3300-4200 MHz: A KEY FREQUENCY BAND FOR 5G | Executive Summary | 4
Technology enhancements
To address the exploding demand for mobile
broadband services and to support new
and innovative use cases that 5G will enable,
mobile industry vendors have brought forth
several technology enhancements. Mobile
industry vendors recognise that network
operators will need to enhance their spectral
efficiency and increase network capacity to
provide improved user experiences – and
these technology enhancements are meant
to enable exactly that.
This paper addresses some of the key
technology enhancements – Massive MIMO,
network slicing and mobile edge computing.
This paper also describes how the availability
of lower frequencies may be used in
combination with 3300–4200 MHz 5G-NR to
provide additional coverage improvement,
facilitating the reuse of existing sites.
Massive MIMO is a key technology that
helps significantly increase network capacity
and spectral efficiency while reducing
wireless network interference, ultimately
improving the end-user experience. The
adoption of Massive MIMO in the 3300–4200
MHz range boosts peak and average
downlink cell throughput with affordable
complexity.
The proximity of the 3300–4200 MHz range
to existing bands used for mobile and the
implementation of Massive MIMO/beam-
forming techniques provide potential for
the reuse of the existing infrastructure in
areas where dense networks are deployed,
thus delivering enhanced capacity without
incurring network densification costs.
Hundreds of thousands of 64T64R and
32T32R Massive MIMO base stations have
already been shipped to support the first
commercial deployments in the 3400–3800
MHz range.
Policy and regulatory frameworks should
embrace this innovation and avoid imposing
undue constraints on the implementation of
Massive MIMO base stations. Leveraging the
technical studies that have been performed,
the requirements on unwanted emissions
for Massive MIMO base stations should
be defined as Over the Air (OTA) emission
limits and should be expressed in terms of
Total Radiated Power (TRP) rather than the
interference generated in any given direction
(as quantified by EIRP).
Network slicing refers to the principle
of dividing (or slicing) a single physical
infrastructure into multiple virtual networks,
through Network Function Virtualisation and
Software Defined Networks. With network
slicing, network providers can customise
network services for various industry
verticals, drawing upon a shared pool of
©Copyright 2020 Global mobile Suppliers Association
virtual and physical resources, including
storage, computing, security, network
management, etc. This presages huge
benefits for society because it dramatically
reduces the cost of service creation,
innovation and experimentation in various
industry sectors and verticals, from health
and education to transport, energy and
manufacturing – and everything in between.
Mobile edge computing is a network
architecture that migrates applications
and services to the edge of the network to
localise service content. Running applications
and performing related processing tasks
at the network edge, closer to the cellular
customer, reduces network congestion,
transmission delay and high bandwidth
demand on back-haul networks, among other
things.
Spectrum sharing vs. spectrum
clearing
Spectrum sharing and spectrum
clearing are both methods of avoiding
interference between services. As a general
recommendation, GSA advocates clearing the
bands to be used by 5G, to enable maximum
efficiency and coverage of 5G deployments.
Possibilities of sharing between 5G and other
services should be taken into consideration
if clearing the band is not possible in the
shorter term. In some instances, spectrum
sharing may be possible, for example where
the incumbent satellite stations are few and
located at known locations in areas where
appropriate protection can be provided.
Wide and contiguous channel
assignments
The ability of mobile operators to fulfil
the market demand for 5G services cost
effectively will largely depend on the
availability of wide and contiguous frequency
blocks.
GSA suggests that the largest possible
contiguous frequency blocks be made
available for IMT within the 3300–4200 MHz
range at the national level. This is because
the assignment of contiguous blocks to
mobile operators will lead to significant
benefits in terms of spectrum efficiency,
signalling overhead, physical layer flexibility,
latency performance, base station radio unit
implementation and UE implementation.
At least 80–100 MHz contiguous blocks in
the 3300–4200 MHz range are being made
available per operator in several leading
countries. This target should be achieved in
all markets by 2020.
Spectrum availability should grow further
over time considering the steadily increasing
market adoption of a growing number of use
cases with more and more requirements
3300-4200 MHz: A KEY FREQUENCY BAND FOR 5G | Executive Summary | 5
FROM MOBILE BROADBAND
AND FIXED WIRELESS
ACCESS TO ‘SMART’
EVERYTHING
The 3300–4200 MHz range offers an
optimal balance between coverage and
capacity, which will support a broad
range of 5G applications, including:
eMBB (including AR/VR and UHD),
fixed wireless access, as well as many
applications that will drive the digital
transformation (including Industry 4.0,
health care, smart cities and drones
applications).
(higher throughput and lower latency in the
first place). GSA believes that additional mid-
band spectrum may therefore be required
for MNOs in leading markets by 2023–2025;
the 3300–4200 MHz range may represent a
valuable opportunity in this respect.
Having defined the channel bandwidth
targets, the actual size of the assigned
blocks should be determined by the auction
procedure itself. GSA supports assignment
procedures with the channel raster based on
10 MHz lots.
Spectrum caps should be
avoided in competitive markets
An administration’s approach to spectrum
caps should be based on the level of
market competition desired. Spectrum caps
should not be imposed in markets with a
healthy level of competition. Should an
administration – say, in a Latin American
country – feel the need to use spectrum
caps to increase the level of competition,
the spectrum caps could be linked to the
operators’ percentage of the total available
spectrum for IMT. Caps setting based on
specific amounts of spectrum (in terms
of megahertz) might be too rigid and may
constrain the provisioning of useful services
and applications. Such rigid spectrum caps
should be avoided.
Addressing industry verticals
connectivity requirements
Adequate spectrum with appropriate
regulatory conditions should be made
available to enable integration of industry
verticals in 5G, both through public mobile
networks and through locally operated
private networks. Industry verticals that
may potentially benefit from integration
into 5G include Industry 4.0 factories
that are increasingly dependent on
wireless connectivity and sensors, smart
manufacturing, mining, harbours, hospitals,
agriculture, etc.
GSA sees three options for providing
capacity/spectrum for industry verticals:
• using MNO services, e.g. within
dedicated network slices
National synchronisation
frameworks
To avoid interference between adjacent
spectrum owners, GSA recommends
synchronising operations between operators
(adopting a common clock reference and a
common frame structure) within one country
and, as much as possible, between countries.
Considering the significant contribution of a
frame structure to the network performance
(e.g. in terms of latency, spectral efficiency,
UL and DL throughput and coverage),
the frame structure selection should be
left to agreements between operators.
Administrations may eventually ‘facilitate’ the
process should commercial agreements not
materialise early enough (e.g. by avoiding
agreement delays which would translate into
delayed market availability).
Smooth cross-border
coordination
GSA strongly recommends that
administrations arrange effective cross-
border coordination agreements between
and among neighbouring countries aimed at
cross-country synchronised operations as
much as possible.
Investment-friendly provisions
National administrations should not sacrifice
the long-term potential of the technology for
short-term revenue gain from the assignment
procedures.
The administrations should advise local and
state authorities in the country to facilitate
the installation of network equipment (macro
cells and small cells) with agile procedures.

• using locally licensed spectrum, or The unsynchronised operation for Indoor

leased MNO spectrum base station networks could be carefully
considered in specific cases.
• licence exempt bands.
In the case of countries requiring coexistence
with LTE-TDD equipment in the band, an
‘LTE-compatible’ NR frame structure can
be adopted. Due to the sacrificed latency,
migration to the ‘NR-only’ frame structure
should be considered as soon as the co-band
LTE-TDD deployment can be refarmed to NR.

Any residual legacy WiMAX base stations

should ideally be refarmed from the start.

©Copyright 2020 Global mobile Suppliers Association 3300-4200 MHz: A KEY FREQUENCY BAND FOR 5G | Executive Summary | 6
5G: A REALITY TODAY
The 3300–4200 MHz frequency band offers a unique opportunity for ‘mid-band’ spectrum availability. The amount of spectrum that can be
made available in this frequency range will be exploited by the 5G New Radio (5G-NR) air interface to deliver increased capacity and a better
experience to end users.
Standards Readiness
3GPP Release 15 introduced the 5G New
Radio air interface: a flexible air interface
that supports applications with different
requirements in terms of throughput,
reliability, latency and number of
connections. The NR key features include
a new F-OFDM waveform that allows for
a flexible adaptation of the numerology
(including sub-carrier spacing and OFDM
symbol length), new channel coding
techniques, a resource allocation scheme
to improve latency, and support for Massive
MIMO. NR has been specified using a
lean design enabling low network energy
consumption and maximising forward
compatibility. Another key architectural
feature is the possibility of deploying the NR
uplink and downlink in different bands as
well as operating NR and LTE simultaneously
on the same frequency channel.
The 3GPP Release 15 specifications are
mainly focused on eMBB and the basic
Figure 1: R15 Focus on eMBB, R16 and R17 for eMBB enhancement and verticals
©Copyright 2020 Global mobile Suppliers Association
capabilities for URLLC scenarios. Release 15
specifications meet all requirements defined
by ITU IMT-2020 for eMBB, URLLC and mMTC.
• Rel-15 Phase1.1 was completed in
December 2017, defining the NSA
(Non-Standalone) mode of operation,
which is based on the Evolved Packet
Core (EPC) and on the NR-LTE DC (Dual
Connectivity) mode where 5G-NR
deployment uses LTE as a control plane
anchor;
• Rel-15 Phase1.2 was completed in June
2018, defining the SA (Standalone)
mode of operation, which supports
independent 5G deployment and a new
end-to-end 5G-NR RAN–5G Core (5GC)
network architecture: NR independent
access mode with full control plane
capability for NR.
3GPP Release 16 specifications are
expected to be completed by June 2020
(the core part finalisation is expected in
March 2020 [Stage 3] while ASN.1 freezing
3300-4200 MHz: A KEY FREQUENCY BAND FOR 5G | Content | 7
is planned for June 2020). This Release will
bring further enhancements in all areas
defined by IMT-2020 [1] including use cases
for the industry verticals.
Notably, Release 16 will provide
enhancements for URLLC and Industrial
IoT (IIoT), MIMO, UE power savings, mobility
and multi-radio dual connectivity, cross-
link interference mitigation and remote
interference management and self-organised
networks. Release 16 will also introduce
support for Integrated Access and Backhaul
(IAB), 5G V2X with NR sidelink, positioning
and access to unlicensed spectrum, as well
as support for new frequency bands.
3GPP Release 17 preparations have started.
The scope of Release 17 was finalised by
3GPP in December 2019; Figure 1 contains
some of the Work Items and Study Items
together with a summarised view of the
features in the above-mentioned R15 and
R16 Releases.
 GSA Focus Activity Media Links

ABOUT GSA GSA actively promotes the 3GPP technology

road-map – 3G, 4G, 5G – and is a single
News/updates: RSS Feed:
https://gsacom.com/rss-feeds/
source of information resource for industry
GSA LinkedIn group:
GSA (the Global mobile reports and market intelligence. GSA
www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=2313721
Suppliers Association) is Members drive the GSA agenda and define
a not-for-profit industry the communications and development LTE User Devices LinkedIn group:
organisation representing strategy for the Association. www.linkedin.com/groups?gid=4146472
companies across the Membership of GSA is open to any supplier LTE-Unlicensed LinkedIn group:
worldwide mobile of products; systems or services related www.linkedin.com/groups/8601576
ecosystem engaged in the to the mobile industry and brings many
supply of infrastructure, benefits including access to the GAMBoD
Twitter: www.twitter.com/gsacom
semiconductors, test 4G-5G devices databases and Networks, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/
equipment, devices, Technology & Spectrum databases. The Global-mobile-Suppliers-Association-
applications and mobile range of benefits includes enhanced GSA-123462771012551/
support services. discussion, networking and influencing
opportunities on the key industry topics, and
unique promotional/visibility opportunities
for your company name, capabilities, Contact
Reusing this content positioning and messages.

More details can be found at GSA Research Team

Copyright in this document is owned
by GSA. Any of the information, data or
charts included in this document may be
republished by any third party strictly on
condition that GSA is credited as the source
using the words: Source: GSA (the Global
mobile Suppliers Association).
https://gsacom.com/gsa-membership/ Email: research@gsacom.com
GSA Research Database GSA Secretariat
Reports are based on data contained in the Email: info@gsacom.com
GSA GAMBoD databases which is a resource
available to GSA Members and Associates. Web Site: https://gsacom.com
Companies and policy makers can subscribe
as a GSA Associate to the GAMBoD database
to gain insights into the source data behind
reports for their own research purposes.

Annual discounts are available to regulators,

government agencies and mobile operators.

Please email info@gsacom.com for more

information.

©Copyright 2020 Global mobile Suppliers Association 3300-4200 MHz: A KEY FREQUENCY BAND FOR 5G | Content | 8