SenzaFili CBRSLaunch DeepDiveReport

Senza Fili | Deep Dive Report
The CBRS commercial launch

An assessment of the potential of CBRS in the
US market
By Monica Paolini, Senza Fili
Sponsored by
The CBRS commercial launch Senza Fili | Deep Dive
Table of contents
Analyst report ............................................................................................. 3 7. Neutral hosts and other service providers ........................ 20
1. CBRS launch: what does it mean?.......................................... 4 8. Mobile operators, cable operators, WISPs ........................ 21
▪ Who does what in CBRS............................................................. 5 9. Takeaways .............................................................................. 23
▪ Report roadmap ......................................................................... 6 Conversations............................................................................................ 24
▪ What CBRS brings to the US wireless market .......................... 7 CBRS Alliance | CBRS 101 for the enterprise ........................... 25
▪ The CBRS timeline: the path to commercial deployments, Corning | Taking CBRS inside the enterprise ........................... 31
PALs and 5G ................................................................................ 8 NetNumber | CBRS makes it easier for the enterprise to
▪ CBRS spectrum ........................................................................... 9 deploy private LTE networks ..................................................... 38
▪ The OnGo certification program ............................................. 10 Radisys | OnGo certification strengthens the CBRS ecosystem
....................................................................................................... 44
2. The CBRS ecosystem .............................................................10
Sequans | OnGo modules accelerate and widen CBRS support
3. Devices: EUDs .........................................................................11
in IoT devices ............................................................................... 50
4. RAN: CBSDs ............................................................................13
Intel | CBRS: Learning to listen to the enterprise .................... 54
5. SAS and ESC providers ..........................................................15
FCC | How did the FCC take CBRS off the ground? ................. 61
6. Network management and wider ecosystem ....................16
Glossary......................................................................................... 65
▪ CBRS as a service ...................................................................... 19
References .................................................................................... 66
More from Senza Fili

CBRS: Should the enterprise and venue owners care?
Deep Dive Senza Fili report on the role of CBRS in the enterprise, with interviews with Westell, Nokia, Federated
Wireless, Ericsson and the CBRS Alliance.
• CBRS will boost small cells and infrastructure sharing in the US

• Simple and easy-to-deploy CBRS networks for the enterprise
• The benefits of coordinated spectrum access in CBRS private networks
• A smooth path to private networks and neutral host models with CBRS and OnGo
• Reliability to drive adoption of CBRS private networks in the enterprise
© 2019 Senza Fili |2|

Analyst report

1. CBRS launch: what does it mean?

At the CBRS launch event on September 18, 2019 there was a widespread
feeling of celebratory relief. After years of regulatory negotiations, of trials,
of product development and marketing, and of technology and ROI
assessment, we can finally see how CBRS will fare in the real world.
CBRS means different things to different people in wireless, in the

enterprise and beyond.
To the analyst writing this report, CBRS is a bold attempt to radically

increase spectrum reuse by sharing spectrum among players with different
connectivity needs. With CBRS, we can move beyond the licensed versus
unlicensed dichotomy, which has spread connectivity in an unprecedented
way but is insufficient to address the needs of ever more pervasive
connectivity. Spectrum sharing can be a powerful tool to reduce the digital
divide in urban, suburban and rural settings: the availability of mid-band
spectrum and a wide selection of equipment lower the cost of
deployments in underserved areas. CBRS matters well beyond the US and
can become a model for other bands and other countries to introduce –
and improve on – spectrum sharing.
CBRS gives mobile operators an opportunistic, incremental option to

access free or low-cost mid-band spectrum. Mobile operators can use
CBRS to increase indoor and outdoor capacity in 4G and, eventually, 5G
networks. Just as important, they can use it to establish a new, stronger
presence in the enterprise by managing or supporting private networks, or
combinations of public and private networks.
For cable operators, CBRS is a way to go beyond Wi-Fi and MVNO

arrangements to offer wireless services to their customers. It gives them
the option, but not the requirement, to have affordable licensed spectrum.
CBRS is also, as it is for mobile operators, a way to reach out more
effectively to enterprise customers as wireless becomes more entrenched
in the enterprise with IoT.
For WISPs and other service providers, CBRS offers a way to use a
standards-based and cost-effective technology (LTE) and highly valuable
spectrum, alongside other bands, in low-density suburban and rural areas
to strengthen their business case and their ability to reach their customers.

For the enterprise, CBRS may have a more transformational impact. It

Who does what in CBRS
comes as the enterprise is going wireless, not just by providing voice and
data access to employees, tenants and vendors through mobile devices, 3GPP ▪ 3GPP defines the 4G (LTE) and 5G (NR) standards to
but by using wireless connectivity to run their operations, ranging from be used in the CBRS band. The CBRS band is
remote asset monitoring to industrial applications and guest services. With technology neutral, so other access technologies,
private networks, CBRS gives the enterprise more control over the wireless including proprietary ones, can be used in this band.
infrastructure than it has with public cellular networks and Wi-Fi. This level
of control over the infrastructure is what the enterprise needs to truly CBRS ▪ The CBRS Alliance promotes the adoption of 3GPP
embrace wireless, and justify the investment and effort. Alliance technologies in the CBRS band through its
members, which include vendors, carriers, service
For neutral hosts, tower companies, and an emerging cast of service providers and SAS/ESC providers.
providers offering services to enterprises that do not want to deploy and
▪ The CBRS Alliance also defines specifications and
operate their wireless infrastructure, CBRS is a great opportunity to test
manages the certification program for OnGo.
new business models and expand service offerings. This is where
competition is at its highest, because enterprises want control over the
FCC ▪ The FCC established the regulatory framework for
wireless infrastructure but are rightly reluctant to run it themselves. But
three-tier spectrum sharing in the 3.5 GHz band (ITU
each enterprise has different needs and many options to choose from, and
Band 48).
it is still unclear which business and service models will become prevalent.
▪ It has set up and will administer the PAL auction in
For vendors, CBRS is more than a frequency to support in their products. It June 2020.
is a way to get into the private LTE market and to work more closely, or
differently, with the enterprise. For vendors that have been working with ITU ▪ The ITU defined Band 48 based on the FCC
the enterprise for a long time, it is an organic market expansion. For tier- allocation.
one and other vendors that have traditionally worked with operators –
even when the final deployment target was the enterprise – CBRS offers OnGo ▪ OnGo is the brand that the CBRS Alliance has
the opportunity to work directly with the enterprise and those managing created for LTE-based CBRS equipment and for its
their private networks, if they are able to meet the challenge of a new certification program.
business model and, in some cases, get into a somewhat competitive
tension with the mobile operators that want to be the gatekeepers of WInnForum ▪ The WinnForum focuses on CRBS spectrum sharing
private networks in the enterprise. mechanism, testing and certification. While the
CBRS Alliance is committmed to 3GPP technologies
The CBRS ecosystem, though, requires more than device and RAN (LTE and NR) technologies, the work of the
equipment vendors, and SAS/ESC providers. To make CBRS attractive to WInnForim is agnostic to the access technology –
the enterprise, private CBRS networks have to support edge compute i.e., not limited to 3GPP technologies.
elements, automation, AI, network slicing and URLLC. Many vendors with ▪ The scope of WInnForum is wider than CBRS, and
solutions in these areas have developed partnerships with CBRS includes other countries, bands and ways to manage
equipment vendors to help the enterprise address its end-to-end needs, spectrum – such as software-defined radio,
rather than offering a stand-alone technology product. cognitive radio, and dynamic spectrum access.

Report roadmap
Mindful of the wide range of ecosystem players needed to make CBRS succeed, this report focuses mostly on who is
doing what within the ecosystem. The report shows how, in trying to reach the enterprise, the wireless industry needs a
new approach to developing service offerings – one that requires more partnerships and a richer set of options, but
also more openness and the participation of a wider group of players.
The interviews in the second part of the report further illustrate the breadth of the wireless ecosystem that feeds CBRS.
Sequans has developed a module that vendors can use to add CBRS to their devices, thus enabling them to participate
in the CBRS ecosystem. The Sequans module can accelerate the adoption of CBRS for IoT applications in the
enterprise.
Corning sees CBRS as a way to expand its reach within the enterprise, by combining its DAS experience with the small
cell expertise it recently added through the SpiderCloud acquisition, and by offering a more compelling set of options
to enterprises that are ready to unwire.
Radisys works on several CBRS fronts, including protocol stacks, SAS agent integration, and the EPC. In our
conversation for this report, we focused on the role Radisys had in establishing the OnGo certification program and
how Radisys helps equipment vendors go through the certification process.
NetNumber sees CBRS as a key component of its private LTE network solution, which aims to provide the enterprise
the performance and security of public cellular networks while removing the complexity of network management in
the core.
The CBRS Alliance has been instrumental in promoting CBRS, from regulation to certification and branding, with the
support of a large and effective membership. In my conversation with CBRS Alliance President Dave Wright, I play the
role of an enterprise CIO team member trying to figure out what CBRS can do for my organization.
Finally, the FCC’s Mike O’Rielly gives a candid description of the work that went into getting CBRS off the ground. He
and his team gathered the support of incumbents whose access needs to be protected, mobile operators
accustomed to have spectrum exclusively allocated to them, and the unlicensed crowd advocating more free access
to spectrum.
This report is a sequel to Senza Fili’s previous report on CBRS and the opportunity it presents to the enterprise,
entitled “CBRS: Should the enterprise and venue owners care?” That report explores in more detail what benefits
CBRS offers the enterprise and what challenges CBRS must meet to succeed. The report, sponsored by the CBRS
Alliance, Ericsson, Federated Wireless, Nokia and Westell, can be downloaded here.

What CBRS brings to the US wireless market
Open access to 150 MHz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band in the US
With CBRS, the FCC opens 150 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band (3550 MHz-3700 MHz) for access to licensed users with a Priority Access License (PAL) and to registered users
with General Authorized Access (GAA), alongside incumbents which will retain the rights to use the band. CBRS creates a framework for 4G and 5G deployments in this
band, which is currently underused in the US. In many other countries, the 3.5 GHz band is reserved for 5G deployments.
Increase spectrum utilization and efficiency through spectrum sharing
With CBRS’s three-tier access system, multiple users share the spectrum and, because of the users’ different location and needs, the overall efficiency and utilization of
the spectrum will increase. For instance, WISPs can use CBRS to continue to use the band to provide broadband connectivity, mobile operators to add capacity in traffic
hotspots, and venue owners and enterprises to improve indoor coverage – all concurrently, because their footprints are largely not overlapping.
Combine advantages of licensed and unlicensed access
CBRS is an ambitious attempt to combine the freedom of unlicensed access with the guarantees of licensed access, in a technology-neutral framework that can be
shared by multiple technologies at each location. PAL users will have reliable access to their allocated channels, with the exception of exclusion zones where the use of
the 3.5 GHz band is reserved to incumbents. GAA users will share the remaining spectrum using mechanisms for fair coexistence.
Combine public and private wireless infrastructure
PALs will mostly drive deployments of public networks, while GAA will encourage the deployment of private networks in the enterprise. OnGo solutions based on CBRS
are designed to address both the needs of networks operators to integrate CBRS into complex wide-area networks, and the needs of enterprises and venue owners for
networks that meet their performance requirements, but are easy to deploy – i.e., by combining the capabilities of LTE with the simplicity of Wi-Fi.
Boost indoor coverage and small cells
The CBRS spectrum-sharing framework and limited propagation of the 3.5 GHz band at the allowed power levels promote distributed topologies that cover limited
areas and address location-specific connectivity needs (e.g., high traffic density, IoT). CBRS offers an alternative to footprint-wide macro-cell networks and supports
sustainable, scalable business models for indoor small cell deployments funded and owned by enterprises and venue owners, which have so far eluded the US market.

The CBRS timeline: the path to commercial deployments, PALs and 5G
2012 ▪ The US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology releases a report on spectrum sharing, entitled “Realizing the Full Potential of
Government-Held Spectrum to Spur Economic Growth.”
2013 ▪ President Barack Obama issues a presidential memorandum giving the FCC a mandate to pursue spectrum-sharing opportunities for the 3.5 GHz
band.
2014 ▪ The FCC finalizes a proposal for the creation of CBRS. WInnForum forms a Spectrum Sharing Committee to develop baseline standards.
2016 ▪ The FCC adopts rules for shared commercial use of the 3550–3700 MHz band, with a three-tiered access and authorization framework.
▪ Alphabet/Google, Federated Wireless, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ruckus Wireless (now CommScope) form the CBRS Alliance.
2017 ▪ The FCC finalizes rules for spectrum sharing in the CBRS band.
2018 ▪ The CBRS Alliance publishes Release 1 of the Network and Coexistence Baseline Specifications, and launches the OnGo brand and certification
program.
▪ WInnForum releases final test code for CBSD protocol testing and approves the first six test labs for CBRS standards compliance.
▪ The FCC and NTIA begin the SAS and ESC certification process, and SAS testing for Amdocs, CommScope, Google, Federated Wireless and Sony.
▪ The FCC announces the establishment of the ICD process and ESC registration process, and SAS administrators submit ICD proposals to the FCC.
▪ The FCC issues the first CBSD certifications to Ericsson, Nokia, Sercomm, and Ruckus Networks, and the first EUD certification to Sierra Wireless.
▪ The CBRS Alliance announces the first OnGo certifications.
▪ The FCC increases PAL license areas to county size and lengthens PAL license terms to 10 years in the 3rd Report & Order.
2019 ▪ WInnForum approves Nokia, CommScope, Federated Wireless, and Google as CPI Training Program Administrators.
▪ NTIA announces completion of lab testing of ESC equipment for select providers.
▪ ESC deployment plans approved by the FCC for CommScope, Federated Wireless, and Google.
▪ The FCC approves of five SAS administrators: Amdocs, CommScope, Google, Sony and Federated Wireless.
▪ CBRS officially launches, with FCC approval of ICDs on September 16, 2020, with initial commercial GAA service available.
▪ Upon completion of ICDs, final SAS certification and full commercial service will start by the end of 2019.
▪ The CBRS Alliance expects to finish Release 3 with 5G support at the end of 2019.
2020 ▪ The FCC will hold PAL auctions in June 2020.

▪ OnGo 5G service is expected to become available.

CBRS spectrum
Incumbent users (labeled in red in the figure below) include the military (3550–3700 MHz: coastal locations use 3650–3700 MHz, and terrestrial 3650–3700
MHz), satellite providers (3600–3700 MHz) and WISPs (3650–3700 MHz). Incumbents have unrestricted spectrum access and do not need SAS authorization
to use it. They also are not required to inform the SAS of their use of the spectrum. The SAS collects data on incumbent users from the Environmental Sensing
Capability (ESC) to ensure that their access is protected from interference. WISPs will continue to have incumbent access to the 3650–3700 MHz band under
the terms that are currently in place, without having to modify or replace the equipment they have deployed.
PAL access (yellow) is limited to licensed users in the 3550–3650 MHz portion of the 3.5 GHz band. The FCC is expected to announce a date for the PAL
auction soon. Licenses will be assigned on a county basis (there are 3,200 counties nationwide), will last 10 years and will be renewable. In each market there
will be seven PALs, each assigned a 10 MHz, unpaired, TDD channel. To avoid spectrum hoarding, no license holder can have PALs for more than 4 channels
in the same location. License holders have to meet end-of-term performance requirements (they will lose the license if they do not use the spectrum), but can
partition and disaggregate PALs and transact access in the secondary market. Small businesses, rural WISPs and qualifying tribal lands are eligible for bidding
credits (15-25%).
All other users registered with a SAS can use the spectrum when the SAS determines that the spectrum is not in use by incumbent or PAL users with higher
access priority. Channels throughout the overall band (3550–3700 MHz) are available for GAA (green): access to 70 MHz is shared with PAL users and subject
to availability (PAL users have priority over GAA users), and access to the remaining 80 MHz is reserved to GAA access (but PAL users can also use this part of
the band under the GAA provisions). At any location, GAA users will share the spectrum using network-based coexistence methods (see “GAA and network
coexistence” below).
The CBRS band corresponds to 3GPP Band 48, defined for the US market, and overlaps Band 42 (3400–3600 MHz) and Band 43 (3600–3800 MHz).

2. The CBRS ecosystem The OnGo certification program

Undeniably the ecosystem is vital for any new technology to In 2018, the CBRS Alliance launched the OnGo brand, with a
succeed. But in the case of CBRS, a strong and cohesive ecosystem certification program as its foundation, to promote the growth of an
will determine how widely and rapidly CBRS will be deployed, more ecosystem for interoperable CBRS solutions based on 3GPP
so than it has been for access technologies such as 3G, 4G, 5G in technologies – LTE today and eventually 5G.
licensed spectrum, or Wi-Fi. This is because what is new with CBRS is
not so much the technology, but how the technology is used in new OnGo certified equipment from different vendors will interoperate
types of networks and to enable spectrum sharing. Unlike with Wi-Fi seamlessly within the same network, and will work with the SAS for
or licensed cellular networks, multiple users and business models will spectrum coordination straight out of the box. An enterprise will be
coexist – often in the same location – with the combination of able to purchase OnGo Citizen Broadband Radio Service Devices
licensed (PAL) and unlicensed (GAA) access. (CBSDs) and install them within their premises without having to deal
with the complexities of carrier LTE. For GAA users, OnGo aims to
To enable the deployment of CBRS networks for different users – provide an ease of deployment comparable to Wi-Fi.
enterprises, fixed and mobile service providers, public entities –
multiple players have to work together to present solutions that PAL users have to first secure the right to access the spectrum, but
meet the performance, reliability and security requirements, and yet the deployment process is the same as for GAA – and, in fact, PAL
avoid the complexity of public licensed cellular networks. users will likely use GAA and PAL access concurrently if they want
access to more spectrum.
Leading to and following the commercial launch, the CBRS
ecosystem has been buzzing with a flurry of announcements of new The OnGo certification program is open to vendors, which submit
products, partnerships, trials and planned deployments. Here we their equipment to independent test labs that are authorized by the
present an overview of the latest ecosystem developments in CBRS, CBRS Alliance. OnGo-certified products have passed tests for
to show the level of activity and the breadth of players involved. The different configurations and against other OnGo products to ensure
overview does not include all the vendors and service providers interoperability.
working on or deploying CBRS, but it is meant to provide a
perspective on how CBRS is developing and what type of players are Vendors can use the OnGo logo, and they receive an FCC ID that
working together to make it successful. confirms the FCC certification. Like the Wi-Fi Alliance certification,
OnGo certification reduces deployment costs and makes it possible
for any OnGo device to connect to a network without having to
repeat tests for interoperability within each network. Certification
started in September 2018, and the up-to-date list of certified OnGo
equipment is available at https://www.cbrsalliance.org/certification/

3. Devices: EUDs
The device ecosystem for CBRS has started to ramp up.
Because of the combination of public and private networks,
CBRS adoption depends on the availability of mobile devices,
such as smartphones, and of devices that support IoT
applications. These could be modules that can be added to
IoT devices (e.g., sensors or cameras), CBRS devices (e.g.,
push-to-talk phones or CPEs), or devices that extend CBRS
coverage (e.g., hotspots or routers).
On the smartphone end, six devices operating in the CBRS

band have been on the market for months. Many of the
major smartphone makers already have commercially
available CBRS devices. Samsung’s Galaxy S10 5G and Galaxy
Note 10, Apple’s iPhone 11, Google’s Pixel 3X and 3XL, LG’s
G8 ThinQ. Motorola’s Moto Z3 are among the CBRS user
devices that will drive adoption among business and
consumer users.
On the IoT front, Sequans Communications has released two

new modules that support LTE and CBRS. The modules
support a range of IIoT and M2M devices, gateways and
consumer devices. Sequans says the modules are the
industry’s first cost-effective leadless chip carrier modules
designed for massive deployments of IoT devices on private
LTE CBRS networks.
Cradlepoint has been very active in the CBRS space, and

added CBRS support in the latest line of wireless routers,
including a Gigabit LTE edge router. Cradlepoint has
participated in many trials, including the American Dream
one.
Telit, a cellular module vendor and an IoT platform provider,

has released a mobile broadband adapter card that supports
CBRS.
MultiTech’s first CBRS portfolio includes a cellular-to-

Ethernet bridge, an industrial router and a USB dongle. The

FCC-certified devices
company plans to expand its portfolio to include private LTE supporting CBRS
devices supporting CBRS and other dedicated LTE bands.
17 mobile phones by Apple,
Inseego’s MiFi 8000 Mobile Hotspot supports 27 LTE bands, Google, LT, Motorola, OnePlus
including CBRS, and it is available to Sprint subscribers. and Samsung
Motorola offers a push-to-talk radio built specifically for 1 push-to-talk device by

CBRS that customers can use as a Wi-Fi hotspot, as part of its Motorola
MOTOTRBO Nitro private network offering.
2 portable handsets by LG
The list of CBRS devices with FCC certification is available
here. 6 LTE and LTE/HSPA routers by
Cradlepoint, Encore Networks
and ZyXEL Communications
2 CPEs, by Green Packet and

Seowon Intech
2 wireless hotspot modems by

Inseego
5 modules by Billion Electric,

Cradlepoint, Hewlett Packard,
Qualcomm and Suzhou Aquila
Solutions
1 LTE Ethernet bridge by Multi-

Tech Systems
6 embedded modules by Getac,

Sierra Wireless, Xplore
Technologies
1 data card by Telit

4. RAN: CBSDs Vendors with certified OnGo equipment

Ericsson, Nokia, CommScope/Ruckus and Sercomm were among the first vendors to receive
Accelleran
FCC and OnGO certification for CBRS-band devices.
BLinQ Networks
Nokia has been involved in numerous trials, including a trial with the San Diego Gas & Electric
utility in California to test a CBRS private LTE network for use in public safety applications.
CommScope/Ruckus
Nokia’s solution is part of its Digital Automation Cloud platform, which includes the Flexi Zone
Multiband CBRS product line. Nokia became the first approved CPI Training Program
Ericsson
Administrator in March 2019. CPIs are required for the installation of CBSDs and CPEs.
ip.access
Ericsson has released a CBRS product line that includes its Radio Dot System for indoor small
cells and its Micro Radio outdoor small cell solution. The CBRS product is part of Ericsson’s
JMA Wireless
Industry Connect connectivity solution aimed at enterprise private networks and IoT services.
Southern Linc has obtained a STA to conduct trials for electric and gas utility communications
Nokia
with Ericsson CBSDs, Google’s Pixel 3, and other devices from Telit.
QUCELL
CommScope/Ruckus Networks has released a CBRS LTE portfolio that includes CBSDs and
cloud services targeted at the private LTE enterprise market. The company has been working in
Samsung
nearly 50 trials with MNOs, MSOs, MVNOs and neutral host operators. The CBRS solutions are
complementary to and integrated with CommScope’s SAS services, although CommScope also
Sercomm
works with other CBRS equipment vendors and SAS providers.
Telrad Networks
Corning’s work on CBRS is based small-cell solutions for the enterprise from SpiderCloud,
which Corning acquired in 2017. The company has teamed up with Druid Software to test
private LTE networks on the CBRS band using Corning’s SpiderCloud Enterprise RAN and Druid
Software’s virtualized EPC.
Ip.access earned an OnGo certification for its E61 nanoLTE small cell, developed for voice, data
and IoT markets. The E61 offers enterprises and operators a choice among an on-premises, a
cloud-based and a hybrid solution. It supports up to 32 users, and bandwidth of 100 Mbps in
the downlink and 10 Mbps in the uplink. Ip.access has partnered with Westell and Druid
Software to market the CBRS solution in the US market. The company has recently announced
an end-to-end CBRS solution that, in addition to the E61 small cell, includes an integrator
module, an IPsec security gateway, a gateway for traffic aggregation, an EPC supporting voice,
push-to-talk and local breakout, a domain proxy gateway to connect to the SAS, and
management tools for CBRS private networks.
JMA’s XRAN virtual baseband and Cell Hub radio product line support CBRS, and they are
targeted at the enterprise, private LTE market. JMA has been working with many partners,

including Cradlepoint and Intel, to deploy CBRS in the new American Dream retail complex in
New Jersey. The network is designed to support services for American Dream and its tenants,
for venue operations and for services targeted at visitors. JMA has also worked with
Connectivity Wireless deploy an indoor CBRS test network at the Angel Stadium in Anaheim,
California, with vendors Motorola, Cradlepoint, Federated and Athonet. The private network
supports retail tracking, point-of-sale and ticketing services, digital displays and secure internal
communications.
Acceleran’s E1012 Category A small cell has received OnGo certification, but the company also
has a Category B CBSD and plans to extend CBRS support to multicarrier products. It has been
working with Athonet and Federated Wireless on a private network trial.
Sercomm has received OnGo certification for outdoor and indoor small cells. It also has an IoT
gateway that uses CBRS for backhaul. The company has conducted trials with Altiostar for FWA
applications.
BLiNQ has received OnGo certification for its FW-300i FWA 3x20 MHz product, which the
company claims is 5G ready. The FW-600 solution also supports CBRS, with M-MIMO and
beamforming, in the FWA market. The strand small cell SC-300S is aimed at the MSO market.
Telrad has announced a CBRS LTE fixed wireless solution as part of its BreezeCOMPACT
product line, targeted at WISPs, MNOs and enterprises. It is integrated with the major SASs
(Federated Wireless, CommScope and Google). In a trial with Midco and Federated Wireless,
Telrad demonstrated 10 Mbps upload and 100 Mbps download speeds over CBRS in a fixed
wireless deployment in underserved markets.
Qucell has OnGo certification for its QO6448B outdoor small cell, which supports carrier
aggregation and 2x2 MIMO, with a small form factor. It supports up to 64 users and is targeted
at the fixed wireless market. The company plans to market the solution in the US in 2020, and it
is working on a 5G CBRS outdoor small cell.
Cambium Networks has added CBRS support in its PMP 450 Platform for point-to-multipoint
fixed wireless solution, which also supports M-MIMO and beamforming. The solution received
FCC certification and is aimed at the WISP, enterprise, utility and local government markets.
Unlike the other vendors, Cambium uses a proprietary access technology instead of LTE (and
for this reason it cannot get OnGo certification, because the program is open exclusively to LTE
equipment). Cambium has partnered with Federated Wireless for SAS integration.

5. SAS and ESC providers

To create competition and a healthy ecosystem, the FCC has encouraged Baicells, Cambium Networks, Ericsson, Nokia, CommScope/Ruckus and
the participation of multiple SAS and ESC providers. To date, the FCC has Telrad.
authorized ICDs for Federated Wireless, CommScope, Google, Sony and
Amdocs. Upon completion of the ICDs, the SASs will receive full approval Sony and Amdocs have also received FCC certification, but they have not
from the FCC and be able to continue to support commercial made any major announcements, suggesting that the SAS is not a top
deployments. CommScope, Federated Wireless and Google are the three priority for either of them at the moment.
ESC providers, with Google and CommScope sharing the ESC network.
Federated, CommScope and Google are crucial to the CBRS ecosystem,
The ESC networks are currently being deployed along the US’s coastlines
and although they compete for customers, they have worked together to
to protect federal naval radar transmissions.
ensure full interoperability with each other so that spectrum grants are
Federated Wireless has begun ICDs with more than 20 customers across assigned consistently to CBRS users. At the same time, they are trying to
36 states, spanning rural and urban environments and private and public develop complementary services for their customers for differentiation
networks. Federated customers and partners include Verizon, Charter, and to increase profitability.
American Tower, Airspan, Boingo Wireless, Cambium Networks,
To simplify CBRS adoption in fixed wireless and in enterprise and other
Cradlepoint, Contour Networks, Ericsson, ExteNet Systems, Geoverse,
private networks, all SAS vendors have been working with equipment
JMA Wireless, Landmark Dividend, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, Telrad and
vendors to integrate SAS connectivity into CBSDs. CBRS users do not
Wave Wireless.
need to deal directly with a SAS – and in fact they are not expected to
CommScope is in interoperability and deployment trials with carriers and and, instead, they can simply select a SAS provider when they deploy the
vendors as a SAS provider, with AT&T announced as a customer. network, and then pay a monthly fee to cover the SAS service. Because
CommScope has also been approved by WInnForum as a CPI training most vendors have relationships with more than one SAS, a CBRS user
program administrator. can use the same SAS even with equipment from different vendors, or
change the SAS without changing the equipment.
A longtime proponent of spectrum sharing, Google has been developing
its SAS offering for CBRS for years and participated in the President’s Radisys has entered the certification and SAS part of the ecosystem,
Council of Advisors on Science and Technology study in 2012 that building on the experience it developed while working with the CBRS
focused on spectrum sharing. Google has kept quiet about its CBRS Alliance to develop the OnGo certification program. The company now
customers, but it recently announced as a SAS customer the Associated assists its customers as they submit their products for OnGo certification
Carrier Group, which represents 36 small operators in the US and Puerto and as they integrate with SAS providers in their networks.
Rico, including C Spire, Cellcom, Bluegrass Cellular, Carolina West
On the certification front, WInnForum has approved as CPI training
Wireless, and Pine Belt Wireless. So far, Google is the only SAS provider
program administrators for CBRS four companies: CommScope,
to publicly put a price tag on its product – $2.25 per month for a
Federated Wireless, Google and Nokia. CPIs are responsible for ensuring
residential fixed wireless connection. Pricing for mobile and IoT users is
that installation data entered into the SAS for CBRS devices is accurate.
not available. Google has also announced that a network planning tool is
The four approved companies include. WInnForum says more than 20
available to its customers, as is a CBRS CPI program, delivered online
professional installers and 11 test labs have already been certified.
through Coursera. Google’s CBRS partners include Acceleran, Airspan,

6. Network management and wider ecosystem

The attractiveness of CBRS is not confined to the RAN. A wide ecosystem has
emerged and continues to expand to ensure that CBRS networks offer the
security, reliability, performance and simplicity that most CBRS users – and
especially the enterprise, public agencies and WISPs – need. The CBRS ecosystem
stretches across the end-to-end network, ranging from wireless niche solution
providers all the way to companies like Facebook and Microsoft that are trying to
expand their presence in wireless.
It is not possible to cover all the solutions and all the ecosystem participants –
the CBRS Alliance has over 80 members, and many ecosystem players are not
members because their solutions are complementary to CBRS but not based on
it. This section presents a selection of solutions that illustrate the building blocks
CBRS users may need as they start planning and deploying CBRS.
Core functionality is key for CBRS users. Mobile operators and large service
providers can use their core infrastructure to support CBRS; most other users do
not need to build their own LTE core, which would be a very expensive and
complicated undertaking. Still, depending on the CBRS functionality required,
some core functionality is needed, and solutions are available that reduce the
cost and complexity and provide tools to manage CBRS networks. These are
aimed at the enterprise and other players that do not have and do not need to
acquire deep expertise on the level that mobile operators have.
▪ Companies like Mavenir, Radisys, Druid, Affirmed, Syniverse and Athonet

provide cloud-based, virtualized network management and core capabilities
for private and public networks. Supporting voice, data services, and IoT and
IIoT applications, these solutions are not specific to CBRS or to cellular
technologies. So, they not only work for CBRS networks but can integrate
CBRS networks with other on-prem networks using different bands or access
technologies. The vendors also support edge computing functionality for
enterprises that require on-premises processing for URLLC or latency-sensitive
applications or security, or simply because they want to keep their data and
applications within the enterprise private network.
▪ Druid and Geoverse have worked together on a PLTE network for the 7 Cedars
Casino and Hotel in Sequim, WA, currently under construction. The network
will be used to connect with the guests to provide indoor roaming cellular
coverage for cellular operators, operations (e.g., managing hotel guests and

reservations, providing customer and concierge services); and for IoT

applications (e.g., body cameras on employees, smart-building applications).
▪ Syniverse has built an indoor and outdoor, 2000 sq ft, 12 CBSD CBRS network
at its headquarters in Tampa, Florida. Syniverse is working with Affirmed
Networks, Juniper, MultiTech and Cradlepoint to deploy the network, manage
subscribers and devices, and support enterprise and IoT applications.
Syniverse is also testing devices such as Apple’s iPhone 11 and the Samsung
Galaxy Note 10 on the network.
▪ Facebook is developing an LTE EPC offering, called Magma, which includes a

distributed mobile packet core, with local breakout, network automation and
management software. Facebook open-sourced Magma to encourage the
deployment of networks in underserved locations, both urban and rural.
Facebook hasn’t announced any customers in the US yet, but Telefonica is
using Magma to expand rural connectivity in Latin America, while BRCK is
using Magma for an LTE network in Kenya. Although Magma was not
designed specifically for CBRS, Dan Rabinovitsj, VP of Connectivity at
Facebook, indicated that Magma will work well with CBRS and other shared-
spectrum bands and may be deployed in rural and other underserved areas in
the US.
▪ The Kinetic Edge Alliance (KEA), in the US, brings together vendors to
promote and facilitate the adoption of edge infrastructure that complements
CBRS in the RAN. Federated Wireless, Linode, MobiledgeX, Packet, StackPath
and Vapor IO are the founding members. They are collaborating with partners
such as Alef, Detecon, Hitachi Vantara, New Continuum, Pluribus and Seagate
to support CBRS in their solutions. Federated Wireless has integrated its CBRS
controller to work with the Kinetic Edge Alliance to facilitate and accelerate
the availability of edge functionality in private CBRS networks.
Subscriber management and device connectivity is an area of increasing activity,

and applies both to user devices such as smartphones and to IoT or enterprise-
specific devices such as Motorola’s push-to-talk handset. Managing SIM-based
authentication for CBRS devices is not something most enterprises, smart cities or
WISPs want to – or can – do in house. Companies such as NetNumber, Geoverse
and Contour Networks offer solutions in this area, often in conjunction with a
wider service offering. Equipment vendors such as CommScope/Ruckus include
SIM management as an option in their solution.
▪ NetNumber has leveraged its solutions for mobile operators as the basis for

private LTE solutions that are ideally suited for CBRS PLTE networks –networks
that have up to 15,000 subscribers, often with multiple branches, and need to
support data and voice services as well as IoT applications. NetNumber’s
TITAN core software for PLTE networks includes subscriber and device
management and has edge and cloud components. It can be deployed on-
prem, in a public or private cloud, or in a hybrid environment, in networks that
enterprises, neutral hosts or system integrators operate. This is an example of
how CBRS ecosystem players fine-tune technology and solutions that
traditionally have been available only to large operators, adapting it to smaller
entities – enterprises, public agencies, public venues or smaller service
providers – in a scalable way. The performance, reliability and security are the
same, but the deployment and operational complexity is reduced to match
the different requirements of private networks.
▪ Mobile operator and neutral host Geoverse offers carrier-grade indoor and
outdoor cellular coverage for commercial office buildings and IoT connectivity
for smart-building devices using CBRS. Geoverse gives the enterprise or
network operator the ability to manage SIM-based access within the private
network and across the wide-area network, though roaming agreements with
mobile operators. Geoverse has partnered with RF Connect to streamline the
design, network engineering and deployment of private LTE offerings using
CBRS spectrum in public and private venues and in enterprise verticals. The
company has also partnered with Druid to expand its support for services at
the edge, using Druid’s Raemis software.
▪ Contour Networks recently launched its USIM Universal Authentication

Platform, which enables customers to create programmable SIM cards for
CBRS environments. The platform was designed for businesses deploying
CBRS networks and is compatible with shared-spectrum networks around the
world. Contour is making the product available to CBRS equipment makers as
a network authentication solution.
Cloud service providers are also showing interest in the CBRS market, as a way to
expand their business, as a new revenue source, and, perhaps even more
important, because it opens new ways to work with the enterprise and strengthen
existing relations.
▪ Amazon, wanting to explore the value CBRS might bring it, has
requested STAs to test CBRS devices and software at multiple
locations. This follows a demonstration through AWS of CBRS used
to support IIoT applications for surveillance, safety and monitoring,

conducted at the end of 2018 with Ruckus, Athonet and Federated.

CBRS as a service
▪ Microsoft’s Azure was recently part of a private CBRS network
demonstration using CommScope/Ruckus CBSDs, in collaboration Many enterprises, especially the medium-to-small ones, do not want
with Metaswitch and Attabotics. The demonstration showed how to manage a private LTE network. They may not have the resources or
Attabotics’ robotic supply-chain-automation system can be used for simply they prefer to have someone do it for them. With CBRS they
manufacturing automation in a CBRS network, by integrating can install the CBSDs and then have a service provider manage.
CommScope equipment with Azure’s networking and edge Athonet just started offering this option – and other vendors offer or
connectivity solutions. will soon offer similar ones – that is available on the AWS
Marketplace. Athonet’s BubbleCloud LTE uses AWS to support Edge
▪ Google may be interested in linking its role as a SAS provider to its Nodes (today 4G, in the future they can be 5G) that combine edge
cloud services. Although the company has not made any computing for applications that have to be on-prem (e.g., because of
announcements in this area, and in fact has kept a low profile even security or latency requirements). Authentication, mobility and
on its SAS-related activities, linking CBRS, private networks and roaming are managed in the cloud. Edge nodes are managed by
cloud services is a compelling proposition for Alphabet/Google. Athonet, but the equipment can be from multiple vendors, and the
However, such an approach may create a competitive tension pricing is based on the number of edge nodes and devices
between Google and mobile operators – and this may also be the supported, with pricing dependent on device type and volume. Large
case at Amazon and Microsoft. Operators have made clear they enterprises are more likely to opt for a more customized approach,
want to target the enterprise and private LTE market more but for smaller ones this solution makes CBRS much easier and faster
aggressively than they have in the past. to deploy.
Finally, companies like Qualcomm, Cisco and Intel are large vendors
participating in the CBRS ecosystem.
▪ Qualcomm has been a strong supporter of CBRS, and its

Snapdragon chipsets support CBRS Band 48.
▪ Cisco has only recently joined the CBRS Alliance. It has stayed
remarkably quiet about its CBRS plans and strategy, but CBRS
technology fits very well with many of its solutions aimed at the
enterprise market. Specifically, CBRS may play an attractive
incremental or complementary role in Cisco’s enterprise Wi-Fi
solutions.
▪ Intel is a member of WInnForum and is a founding member of the

CBRS Alliance. The company has participated in many trials and,
collaborating with JMA Wireless and others, it has started working
on deployments in public venues and enterprise verticals. The
deployment at American Dream is an example. Intel has also
applied for an STA for its Chandler, Arizona, campus, using
CommScope/Ruckus equipment.

7. Neutral hosts and other service providers

CBRS is a great opportunity for neutral hosts, system integrators and, ▪ ExteNet has been involved in trials and is now in an ICD with Mile
generally, service providers that want to expand their role in the High Networks for FWA services in a rural area. In this deployment,
enterprise. To date, many of these players have worked mostly with the ExteNet uses Federated as the SAS provider, but the company has
enterprise as neutral hosts for DAS or small-cell cellular networks, or as alos relationships with both CommScope and Google.
Wi-Fi operators. For these players, CBRS opens the private LTE network
market, which so far has been very limited in scope and dominated by ▪ American Tower sees CBRS as a way to move beyond its core tower
mobile operators because it depends on licensed spectrum that mobile business and grow its neutral-host enterprise business beyond DAS,
operators own and control. which is a solution that works in only some enterprise and venue
environments. The company focuses on sports and entertainment
Other players – most notably tower companies and cable operators – see venues and commercial real estate. In 2018 it conducted a CBRS trial
CBRS as a way to enter the enterprise market or expand their market in partnership with Ruckus and Federated Wireless at the ISM
share, by leveraging their existing infrastructure and operating Raceway in Phoenix.
capabilities in conjunction with CBRS in the RAN. As wireless networks
increase their in-building component and enterprises become willing – ▪ Connectivity Wireless has deployed an OnGo LTE outdoor network in
indeed, eager – to invest in the wireless infrastructure, in-building private Times Square. It is a private network, initially used to improve security,
networks become a key expansion area for tower companies, which face operations and visitor experience (with AI and machine learning used
slowing growth in the macro cell-site market. on video feeds from cameras) and public safety (with push-to-talk
devices and cameras), for digital signage, and for backhaul for Wi-Fi
Companies that provide services to specific types of venues – ranging hotspots. Connectivity Wireless worked with Athonet, Federated
from specific enterprise verticals and carpeted enterprises, to residential, Wireless, CommScope, and Sky Connect Networks on the
to retail, hospitality and other public venues – have also been very active deployment.
on trials in the past and in the first deployments after launch.
▪ Vapor in collaboration with Airspan, Cradlepoint, Crown Castle,
▪ Boingo Wireless is the neutral host that has been most active on the Federated Wireless and Hitachi is working with the Chicago Police
CBRS front. Boingo is well positioned because its neutral-host Department to deploy license plate recognition, surveillance and
experience for DAS networks and, hence, its relationships with mobile security services, push-to-talk and other staff communication services,
operators. The company also has a good track record as a Wi-Fi digital signage and, eventually, AR/VR applications.
hotspot operator in public venues – e.g., airports and sports venues.
CBRS gives Boingo a new service to provide to enterprises, and ▪ Wave Wireless is deploying private LTE CBRS networks for tenants
expands Boingo’s ability to support IoT and other enterprise services and for office environment automated services at WeWork with
and to provide guests and tenants with access. As part of its ICD Federated, Infomark, and Ruckus/CommScope.
activities, Boingo launched a CBRS network at the Dallas Love Field
▪ Additional trials of CBRS conducted with STAs show the interest in the
airport. A big supporter of convergence and integration across access
service from multiple enterprise verticals and venue types. They
technologies, Boingo announced its Converged Virtualized Core,
include Walt Disney; real estate companies like Mill Creek Residential
which includes a vRAN to jointly support Wi-Fi 6, CBRS and 5G
Trust and Landmark Dividend; the Port of Los Angeles; and utilities
networks in large venues and enterprises.
like Tennessee-based CDE Lightband, Southern Linc, and San Diego
Gas & Electric.

8. Mobile operators, cable operators, WISPs

While there is much interest in private CBRS networks as they open up a new
market for LTE in the US, mobile operators, cable operators and WISPs will
play a major role in CBRS rollouts, especially for outdoor networks in public
areas. Because many of these players want to use PAL access in addition to
GAA access, they may wait for the licenses to be issued so they know whether
– and where – they will get PALs before they deploy CBRS widely. Until the
PAL auction in June 2020, there will be limited deployments to further test the
technology, its use cases, and how it integrates with other bands and access
technologies. WISPSs may seek PAL licenses, but in many cases they do not
require them, because in the areas where they operate they are likely to have
access to CBRS spectrum without a PAL. We expect enterprise private
networks to be rolled out sooner, because most enterprises intend to use GAA
(and it would be unnecessarily expensive and difficult to get a PAL allocation).
However, all mobile operators in the US have announced their intention to

use CBRS, and it is easy to see why: CBRS makes very valuable spectrum
available, both for free with GAA, and in a licensed framework that is most
likely less expensive than the other cellular bands. As such, CBRS is an
opportunistic complement to their wireless networks, and one that will
eventually enable them to deploy not just LTE, but also 5G, since CBRS is RAT
neutral. The operators have not yet outlined detailed deployment plans, and
they are unlikely to do so until the PAL auctions are over – revealing their
plans could put them at a disadvantage during the auction.
On the basis of presentations and our conversations with US mobile

operators, we expect that CBRS will be used outdoors to increase capacity
density in traffic hotspots and indoors to improve coverage and capacity. In
addition, operators regard CBRS as a strategically central tool for entering the
private LTE market and widening their enterprise services – an area where
mobile operators would like to have a stronger presence. Mobile operators
can offer their experience in operating 4G and 5G networks to help the
enterprise deploy its own private networks, but they face competition from
the neutral hosts and other service providers overviewed in the previous
section, especially as they may enter partnerships with cloud service providers.

Cable operators are likely to deploy CBRS aggressively and to try to grab PALs in trialed CommScope’s SAS and Samsung equipment for FWA.
the markets where they operate. CBRS will strengthen their enterprise offerings by
giving the operators a RAN solution that complements their transport network. ▪ Charter Communications is building a 100-node private network at one of its
Cable operators could work either directly with the enterprise or in partnership with offices in Centennial, Colorado, using CBRS. With it, the company will test CBRS
system integrators, but they have not detailed their plans yet. With CBRS, MSOs spectrum use in supporting an indoor enterprise network. During testing,
may also extend their broadband access business in areas where they do not have employees will use some 500 fixed and mobile devices from different vendors
wireline coverage. And, finally, CBRS can become a central complement to their to connect with the 100 base stations. Charter is using Federated Wireless’s SAS
wireless footprint, which they can integrate with their Wi-Fi networks and the to support the network, and has trialled Ericsson equiment for an FWA CBRS
cellular networks they use as part of their MVNO arrangements. deployment. Charter is also planning to use CBRS to provide its subscribers with
access as part of its mobile offering. This will allow the company to shift its
▪ Verizon has said it will deploy CBRS solutions on small cells that have been MVNO traffic from roaming partners to its own CBRS network, both to reduce
deployed on midband AWS or PCS spectrum, and that it plans to use CBRS GAA costs and to have more control over the service and the subscriber experience.
as part of its MIMO and carrier aggregation solution. Some of the carrier’s small
cells are already equipped to support the CBRS band, and the company is ▪ Comcast, Cox and Mediacom are conducting trials to test the techology and the
selecting other small cells for targeted upgrades. Verizon plans to deploy a use cases it supports. Mediacom is using Samsung equipment.
mixture of indoor and outdoor small cell installations in the CBRS band. It is
▪ Among the WISPs that have announced specific CBRS plans are Midco, Mile
using two SAS administrators, Federated Wireless and Google. Initial trials
High Networks and Xtreme Enterprises. Xtreme is using Ericsson’s Micro Radio
included Corning, Ericsson and Nokia as infrastructure vendors.
2208 CBSD for FWA. WISPA’s Claude Aiken has mentioned Wisper in the rural
▪ AT&T is testing CBRS for fixed wireless applications. The company has also Midwest, PocketiNet in southeastern Washington State, and Micrologic in
proposed to the FCC the creation of a new category of CBSD, called Category C Buckhannon, West Virginia, as WISPs operating in rural areas that are exploring
devices, that would have higher power and allow for operational and technical the use of CBRS to expand their networks. Google has also indicated a
flexibility to use CBRS as a midband anchor for 5G NR applications. AT&T has commitment to promote the use of CBRS for rural access.

9. Takeaways
With commercial availability and availability of certified network equipment and devices, we will see the first deployments beyond initial ICDs in 2020.
Rollouts, however, will happen gradually over the next 3-5 years, as enterprise adoption will be gradual, and PAL licensed will be only issued in mid-
2020.
Initially CBRS will be deployed in enterprises with more stringent connectivity needs, that are more active on IoT applications and are more
technologically savvy.
WISPs, mobile operators and other service providers will deploy CBRS gradually where needed within their footprint, as a complement to their existing
networks.
CBRS unlocks precious midband spectrum that is valuable to many players. Mobile operators and WISPs will deploy CBRS on an as-needed basis, as
part of their market growth strategy.
For cable operators, neutral hosts and other services providers, CBRS is going to have a more strategic impact , and open new business opportunities.
For enterprises and venues, CBRS may be a game changer as it allows them to deploy private 4G and 5G networks for the first time, to use them to
expand the reach of wireless within their premises, and integrate them with their Wi-Fi networks.
While the initial CBRS deployments will use LTE, CBRS will eventually transition to 5G, both because of its performance and cost benefits over 4G and
because the 3.5 GHz band is typically used for 5G in other countries. Use cases will also evolve to benefit from 5G functionality. Initial CBRS applications
are mostly focused on well-understood building and enterprise remote control applications, customer services, surveillance and voice services.
In the future, automation, AR/VR, vehicular applications and, generally, applications that depend on high reliability, mobility and low latency will
become more prominent.
CBRS is part of wider global trend to increase spectrum utilization with spectrum sharing and new types of spectrum allocations, with the goal to
provide spectrum to those who need it and where they needed it – most notably underserved communities and providers serving them, enterprises
and venue owners. Today, these are the players that have the need for localized spectrum – and are willing to invest in deploying networks where they
operate – but cannot afford expensive cellular licensed spectrum that is available only for areas that are much wider than they intend to cover.
In remote areas, enterprises and public venues, CBRS as well as new regulatory frameworks in the UK, Germany and other European and Asi an
countries create a different way to allocate spectrum which has the potential to radically improve connectivity for underserved communities and in-
building environments.

Conversations

CBRS Alliance | CBRS 101 for the enterprise

A conversation between Dave Wright, President, CBRS Alliance, and Director of Regulatory Affairs,
CommScope, and Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili
CBRS offers enterprises an unprecedented stadiums and malls, to vertical sectors, such as Dave Wright: I’ll just say it upfront: I don’t see
opportunity to deploy private cellular hospitality, healthcare, higher education or lower CBRS in any way as a wholesale replacement for
networks on premises. It is a new proposition education. Wi-Fi. CBRS complements Wi-Fi: it brings some
for enterprises used to managing a relatively new capabilities to bear for an enterprise CIO or
simpler Wi-Fi network or relying on services Then you’ve got the regular carpeted office space, an IT manager who may have issues around
provided by an operator. But many enterprises multi-tenant dwelling units, commercial latency, security, or even reliability.
are still trying to figure out what CBRS can do properties – all those sorts of things. We classify
for them – and how it is different from what all of that under “enterprise,” and each one of We’ve heard issues with people who host wireless
other technologies can do. those sectors really has their own individual services in public venues where people come in
requirements and needs. with smartphones and turn on the Wi-Fi hotspot
In this conversation with Dave Wright, who is on the smartphone. Obviously, that use is
both the President of the CBRS Alliance and To my mind, at a higher level, the value that CBRS uncoordinated with the venue’s unlicensed
the Director of Regulatory Affairs at has to the enterprise is 150 MHz of prime network. All of a sudden, you’ve got an
CommScope, I take off my analyst hat and play mid-band spectrum that’s being made available, interference issue.
the role of someone at an enterprise trying to from 3.55 GHz to 3.7 GHz, utilizing cellular
figure out what CBRS can offer to my technologies. Those sorts of situations don’t occur with CBRS,
organization. because there are no CBSDs, which are CBRS
We have come to market in September of 2019 small cells, that run on mobile devices. Every
with LTE-based solutions that have been tried and CBSD has a fixed location and is registered in with
Monica Paolini: We have talked many times
tested and have all of the performance, range, the spectrum access system or SAS.
about CBRS, and we agree that one of the key
security, and battery characteristics and benefits
markets for CBRS is the enterprise. For a change,
that have been developed for the cellular markets Monica Paolini: What are the use cases for which
let me pretend I am working on wireless
technologies for IT at an enterprise and I would over the last 20 years. I can or should use CBRS?
like you to help me understand how I can use With OnGo solutions in the CBRS band, the Dave Wright: There’s a lot of very clear ones in
CBRS in a private network. What can CBRS do for enterprise is able to tap into those cellular the industrial space, in logistics, and in healthcare.
my enterprise? capabilities to tackle any particular business
connectivity challenges that they are not able to The government is pretty straightforward with
Dave Wright: I’ll start by saying that I find security and liability requirements in the
“enterprise” as a term to be problematic, in the address with unlicensed Wi-Fi solutions today.
healthcare space, and CBRS can easily meet them.
same way that I find the term “vertical” to be Monica Paolini: Should I use CBRS to replace There is also a lot of interest from trading and
problematic, because they’re both just far too Wi-Fi? financial services firms, where latency, reliability,
broad. When we say enterprise, we may mean and security are all very important.
everything from large public venues, such as

CBRS makes available 150 MHz of prime, mid- spectrum, working with an equipment provider Dave: In a private deployment, or in a neutral
band spectrum utilizing cellular technologies – to and a SAS vendor. There was no operator host one?
the enterprise for private uses today and for involvement in some of those examples.
neutral-host applications going forward. Monica: In both, so that I can understand what’s
Monica: You mentioned the EPC and the better for me.
Monica: Should I expect a mobile operator to management. How hard is it to manage my CBRS
come and build a CBRS network for me, or should network if I decide to build and operate my Dave: We think that most of the initial
I build it on my own, like I did with my Wi-Fi network? deployments will be private networks, where your
network? internal communications needs are driving the
Dave: This depends upon your level of deployment. You have a need for your employees
Dave: It is your choice. It depends on what you sophistication and how much you want to get to be connected, or your devices at your facility to
are most comfortable with. You could go to a into administering a cellular system. be connected.
mobile operator or a cable operator, for that
matter. You will see them all offering CBRS If you really don’t have that desire to learn about Now, that could be a smartphone. For internal
managed services to the enterprise markets, what an MME is and how subscription communications, there are many Band 48 devices
along with some of the companies that have management works in an LTE or a 5G network, available now from leading handset
traditionally offered in-building cellular solutions, then you can work with a managed-service manufacturers. You would have to provision a
like DAS systems. provider or use a cloud-hosted management local identity to that smartphone, using either a
platform that most of the OEMs are bringing to physical SIM or an eSIM.
They will be offering managed service solutions to market.
the enterprise as well. If you’d rather outsource it, Monica: Over time, will I be able to let
you will have that option. If you want to do it in That would abstract the complexities of cellular subscribers from the national mobile operators
house, then that is an option as well. network management from you. To you, it’s roam into my network?
simply a matter of installing access points,
That’s one of the beauties of CBRS: anybody can provisioning subscribers, and issuing devices. Dave: That’s a more advanced capability that’s
access the spectrum, certainly at the GAA tier. That’s all you need to know. If you’re an industrial going to evolve over the next few years. When we
And there will be opportunities for those who player who is using CBRS for mission-critical have these private deployments built out in the
need exclusive, protected, access at the PAL tier communications, then you’ll probably want to enterprises, I believe that the mobile operators
to do that, even at the enterprise level. have at least the EPC services on site. And at that will, indeed, want to leverage that for their
point, you’d probably want to develop some subscribers.
Enterprises that want to deploy CBRS in-house expertise with your staff. Fortunately, many of
can work directly with an OEM to procure the What it would involve is essentially the
these industrial companies, and even some larger
equipment. In many cases, equipment suppliers aggregation of those enterprise CBRS footprints
Fortune 50 companies, already possess these
will be bundling in the backend services for the and the development of roaming relationships
types of IT capabilities.
EPC and the SAS, which are both critical enabling with mobile operators. I think we’ll see the
components. Monica: Let’s say that I got a network on emergence of roaming hubs, for lack of a better
premises, either private or public CBRS. Can I term, that would aggregate a large number of
If you have that desire to do it on your own, there expect all my employees that have a CBRS enterprise networks and then present those to the
will certainly be opportunities, and we’ve seen smartphone or other device to be able to connect mobile operators as additional in-building
enterprises doing that. At our launch event on to the network? Is there anything I need to do? coverage for their subscribers.
September 18, 2019, we saw people who are
building out their own LTE networks using CBRS Monica: Let’s say I go into a venue or enterprise
that has a CBRS network and take along my

Pixel 3 that has CBRS. The Pixel has an eSIM that solutions for cellular identity management, such you can rest assured, in those types of situations,
is provisioned by my operator. How can I use the as certificate-based authentication. that the PAL auction will have very little impact.
phone to connect to the local private network?
Do I need a different SIM, or is it the same SIM Monica: Let’s say I have surveillance cameras that If you’re in an urban or suburban area, then it will
that I’ve been using for my mobile account? are currently on my Wi-Fi network, and I am not depend on whether you are operating indoors or
too happy with my Wi-Fi network. I do not want outdoors.
Dave: You could have the physical SIM to throw away my cameras and replace them with
provisioned to the mobile operator network, and one with CBRS. Can I make the same cameras If you’re operating indoors, over time, it’s very
then have an eSIM as your local identity for the connect to my CBRS network? If so, how? likely that you’ll be able to reuse even the
private. spectrum that’s being used outdoors by a PAL
Dave: There’s a number of gateway devices license holder, just based on the building entry
Monica: I would have two SIMs on my phone? available today that can bridge a Wi-Fi link, the losses and propagation characteristics, the power
final leg being a Wi-Fi link, to a CBRS node used levels that we’re going to be operating with on
Dave: Correct. Most of the newer devices support for backhaul. CBRS.
dual SIMs.
We also have Ethernet gateways. There are serial I don’t expect there to be a lot of problems for
Monica: Then, as an enterprise, I have to manage gateways. We don’t expect all of the ultimate indoor operators. But if you tell me you want to
the SIMs on my CBRS network and in the devices end-user devices to have a CBRS capability, either operate in Times Square at the GAA tier outdoor
initially or eventually. A number of the end-user and require wide bandwidth for your application, I
Dave: You would have to provision SIMs for your
clients that are available today for CBRS are, might caution you against that as a long-term
employees’ and other devices on your network.
indeed, gateway devices. Bridging solutions, strategy.
You’d be responsible for provisioning the eSIM
for the identity of the devices that you want to essentially.
Monica: Now, let’s say that my business is in
access your network. Monica: Right now, I can use all of the 150 MHz Seattle. How do I know that it’s not one of the
of CBRS spectrum, because there are no licenses exclusion zones along the coasts?
Monica: How hard is that?
and I am the only user within my enterprise
footprint. What happens when the licensed PAL Dave: There are some exclusion zones that are set
Dave: It’s not overly complex. Again, it’s
users come in? Am I going to lose access to the up around the fixed satellite stations that we have
subscriber management. Large, sophisticated
spectrum? Is there any risk that I will lose my to protect, as well as some of the grandfathered
enterprises deal with subscription identity
investment in the CBRS infrastructure? wireless links reserved for Part 90 operators –
management for their Wi-Fi systems. Typically, it’s
mostly WISPs.
802.1X-based authentication, and they’re using
Dave: For most, the impacts will be minimal. It
either certificates or username/passwords for the We are no longer protecting the coastal areas
will depend on your application and where you’re
identity. It’s analogous in terms of the complexity. with exclusion zones. Those initially proposed
planning to use it. Of the 150 MHz of spectrum,
only 70 MHz can be licensed. Only seven 10 MHz exclusion zones have been converted into
Monica: Do I need a SIM card for IoT devices,
blocks can be sold at auction. And those PAL dynamic protection areas to protect the
too? For instance, do I need a SIM card for
rights will be licensed at the county level. incumbent military radar systems.
security cameras?
If you are in a rural area, or if you’ve got a There are sensors deployed along the coasts.
Dave: It depends on the capability of the end-
business that’s outside the city and outside the When they pick up the signal from one of the
user device. Most of those today still require a
suburbs, it’s unlikely that you will see a military radars, they notify the SASs. The SASs are
physical SIM. Some are going electronic with
tremendous demand for the PAL licenses. I think then responsible for making any necessary
eSIMs. I do believe, over time, we’ll see other
reconfigurations to the radios in the surrounding

coastal areas to ensure that the aggregate have that support CBRS? Can I trust them to properly with all of the CBRS Alliance
interference doesn’t exceed the statutory limits. connect to my network? specifications. That includes things such as
coexistence. This is similar to what we have in
The SASs do that by potentially relocating radios Dave: At this point, the CBRS Alliance has not Wi-Fi: most people don’t think about the IEEE
from one frequency range to another, so that the done any device-level certification. We’re standards that their Wi-Fi devices support, but
military radars are always protected. The SAS certifying infrastructure equipment at the CBRS they look to see if they’ve got a Wi-Fi Alliance
administrators would certainly be able to tell you, Alliance. We’ve got OnGo certification for certification.
if you say, “I’ve got a facility at this address in infrastructure equipment.
Seattle,” then they will let you know, “Yes, you’re Wi-Fi Alliance just launched Wi-Fi 6 certification
within a DPA neighborhood” – this is what it’s For end user devices, you can go to the CBRS last week. That ensures that devices are
called. website, cbrsalliance.org. If you go under interoperable with one another. That’s what we’re
certification, you’ll find a list of certified client going for with our OnGo certification, as well. As
That means that your operations are potentially devices. That’s based on the FCC Part 96 an end user, you will know that OnGo-certified
liable to be relocated in frequency, based on authorizations, Part 96 is the section of the US infrastructure will work with the SASs throughout
incumbent activity from military users. federal code that deals with CBRS. the market, and with other components.
Monica: If I have a warehouse in Seattle that is You’ll find the devices that have been certified for Monica: If I have my private network, what should
not close to the water, and 3.5 GHz doesn’t go Part 96 operation by the FCC. As you said, it I do to get the SAS to tell me which spectrum
that far, I should be OK, even if I’m within one of includes a number of devices, including the Pixel. channels I can use? Do I need to call up a SAS and
those areas, right? There are a number of smartphones and IoT ask them how to set up an account?
modules, CPE devices and enterprise gateways. At
Dave: Correct. That’s what I was saying. It’s not our launch event last week, we had 46 devices on Dave: Well, I think you could. There are five
bad at all. You will still get a frequency display. companies that received the FCC’s authorization
assignment. to operate as SASs for initial commercial service.
Monica: If the FCC is already certifying the CommScope, Amdocs, Google, Federated, and
The whole premise that we started from was that equipment, why did the CBRS Alliance decide to Sony are the five companies. As soon as you start
the use of the military radar systems is relatively develop the OnGo certification for CBSDs? looking into CBRS solutions, whether that’s in
light. They don’t use the spectrum all of the time.
conversations with an operator or a managed-
When it’s in use, it’s in a relatively narrow band. If Dave: There are not a lot of bells and whistles
service provider, an equipment provider or
you’re at your warehouse, and you’ve got a that CBRS introduces for the end-user devices,
supplier, or an integration partner, in many cases
20 MHz spectrum grant, and then, tomorrow, the and this is an advantage. A CBRS client device is a
the SAS service is part of the solution. You don’t
military shows up and starts operating in that traditional LTE or 5G NR client. The FCC
frequency range, the SASs will be informed of that certification for CBRS end-user devices is very have to worry about it.
by the sensor network. similar to its certification for the rest of LTE or 5G Monica: How do I pay for the SAS service?
devices.
The SASs will then reassign you to a different Dave: That’s going to depend on who you are
20 MHz spectrum, or perhaps put you into What the FCC is testing on the client is whether it working with. For an enterprise, the SAS
10 MHz of spectrum for the period that that conforms to the power levels and the emissions subscription is in most cases part of the managed
military radar is active. It’s not as if you have to masks. Those are the big things that the FCC is service provided by an operator or an equipment
stop transmitting altogether. looking for. supplier.
Monica: I have another question on user devices. For OnGo certification on the infrastructure
How do I know which devices that my employees equipment, we are ensuring that it interoperates

That subscription will include the cellular Monica: It’s basically somewhat similar to what install those. But more and more, the trend is to
management system. That is the EPC services or you do when you get the Wi-Fi modem from the go with a cloud-hosted management platform for
the core services, but it would also include the cable operator. Of course, the functionality is your Wi-Fi access points, especially for people
SAS service. Again, the actual end user, the different, but it’s a similar conceptual model. You who want to outsource the complexity. You buy
enterprise IT manager, doesn’t have to worry pay a little bit more, and then you don’t have to the access point, plug it in, and then there’s a web
about that relationship with the SAS provider. worry about managing your Wi-Fi access point. portal where you manage it all. With CBRS, it is
That’s being handled by their service provider, the same thing, but for cellular.
operator, host, or the equipment vendor. Dave: Right. With enterprise Wi-Fi, there are
people who still get physical controllers and

About CBRS Alliance

The CBRS Alliance believes that LTE-based solutions in the 3.5 GHz band, utilizing shared spectrum, can enable both in-building
and outdoor coverage and capacity expansion at massive scale. To make this vision a reality, the 115+ member companies that
make up CBRS Alliance – including founding companies Google, Qualcomm, Ruckus Networks, Intel, Federated Wireless, and
Ericsson Inc. as well as the nation’s largest mobile carriers – have collaborated to evangelize LTE-based OnGo technology, use
cases, and business opportunities.
About Dave Wright

Dave Wright is the President of the CBRS Alliance, and the Director of Regulatory Affairs at CommScope. Dave played an
instrumental role in the formation of the CBRS Alliance, collaborating with other founding members to create a robust multi-
stakeholder organization focused on the optimization of LTE services in the CBRS band. He served as the Alliance’s first Secretary
from its launch in August 2016 and was elected as the President of the Alliance in February 2018.
For his “day job”, Dave leads CommScope’s policy and standards initiatives, ensuring the intersection of CommScope technology
and product innovations with suitable regulatory environments and technical specifications. Dave is a champion of Open Spectrum,
including both unlicensed and coordinated sharing regimes, while acknowledging the vital role that all spectrum management
regimes play in our increasingly wireless world. Dave is a Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) Emeritus (#2062) as well as a
Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA).

Corning | Taking CBRS inside the enterprise

A conversation between Art King, In-Building Networks Group, Corning, and Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza
Fili
With the OnGo commercial launch on That’s mainly due to industrial interest is the That’s why private LTE is taking a lot of focus right
September 18, 2019, CBRS will go live in characteristics of LTE. And in quite a few of the now. If you need mobile devices, you can buy
enterprises. In many cases the deployments use cases, the IoT vendors have a really tight them as part of the business case to build out the
will be for in-building small cells and will turning radius and can add the Band 48 CBRS private LTE infrastructure. If you are in a
support both enterprise-based services and IoT radio to their boxes fairly quickly. corporate, carpeted-floor enterprise, you really
applications, as well as employee and guest can’t mandate BYOD employees to go spend their
access. I had a conversation with Art King, in We’re also seeing gateway devices developed that money to buy a new cellphone.
the In-Building Networks Group at Corning, have a radio on them and an Ethernet port, so a
about how CBRS fits in the enterprise, how it lot of the legacy devices the industry has invested Monica: How do you see the balance between
complements public cellular and Wi-Fi in for their wired infrastructure can be brought private LTE and public infrastructure? Why are we
networks, and how business models are into this environment fairly easily. talking about private LTE? Why can’t mobile
evolving to meet the needs of the wireless operators go and build the infrastructure for the
Monica: Let’s get to the network in a minute, but enterprise?
enterprise. let me ask you a question about the devices. As
Monica Paolini: Art, can you give us some you say, it’s pretty easy to add a CBRS chip to Art: There are three major use cases for CBRS.
background on Corning’s work on CBRS? your devices. This is an important issue, because
oftentimes, I get the question of, we might have a There is private LTE, which is essentially a closed
Art King: I’m part of the Corning in-building network, but do we have devices? network with its own EPC. There are private SIMs
technologies group. I came to Corning via the that really don’t touch the outside world. And
SpiderCloud Wireless acquisition. We were Can the enterprise upgrade what it currently has? there is the public spectrum.
acquired in 2017 as part of Corning’s search to Do we need new devices? How do you see that
developing? Is that going to slow down CBRS? If you’re a mobile operator and you want to use
have a signal source to be a companion to their CBRS as secondary spectrum indoors or for fixed
DAS technology. We provide an end-to-end Art: In the enterprise world, you tend to have a wireless, you don’t have to worry about macro
solution package for the industry, both in CBRS device turnover rate of about 3% per month. It effects, like co-channel interference and macro-
and licensed spectrum. takes a good 18 months before you’ve turned domination, when you’re doing engineering work
In CBRS, we now ship a platform that specifically over even half of your devices. and are worried about signal leaking from the
targets the indoor market. We’re seeing quite a building. There, operators can use CBRS as
With CBRS, you must have a device that has the secondary spectrum.
few trial sites up and running, and various radio included in it. If the device doesn’t have a
prototypes. A lot of the prototype activity is radio, it won’t be able to access CBRS. This is the Finally, there’s the enterprise implementation,
happening in the industrial space, and within IoT reality of where things are today for the generic which is very promising: the neutral-host version.
specifically. In theory, every mobile device that comes into the
enterprise.

building can roam onto that CBRS network and

have service in the building.
The neutral-host use case is somewhat defined

technically, but from a business perspective, it
hasn’t been completely nailed down yet. There
has been a lot of work in the background, both by
enterprises and by a lot of key customers, to try
to make it real.
It’s going to take some time for CBRS to mature

and appear on the market. And even failing that,
private LTE has a lot of use cases, and it has a lot
of traction. There’s a huge amount of interest in it
from IT people, system architects, and people that
have business cases that need to be solved, where
they’re trying to replace wired network cables to
increase the agility of their operation. In the world
we live in, Wi-Fi is doing what Wi-Fi can do: it
complements LTE.
LTE is going to be used to eliminate network

cables on systems that still use them right now. In
situations where migrating from cables to Wi-Fi
wasn’t viable, such as for system timing, for
system performance reasons or for straight
distance constraints, where you couldn’t reach a
half mile with a Wi-Fi signal. tongue in cheek, the network will have a well- Maybe with 802.11ax, some of these things will
balanced diet of both LTE and Wi-Fi. change, where you’re going to have a more
The business case is essentially eliminating the
deterministic MAC layer.
huge cost of pulling cables, and, especially in Wi-Fi has a jillion devices available. Enterprises
explosion-prone environments, where you have know how to run it. It’s hugely dominant, and it’s But right now, with the present generation of
to have conduits and quite a few things in place not going to be replaced. But there are use cases technology, private LTE has a nice fit, for reach,
to protect against explosions, like in underground where it doesn’t make sense to do something on determinism and latency.
mines. Wi-Fi. In that case, what you’re trying to do with
LTE is not push Wi-Fi out of the way but replace There are many built-in QoS, encryption, and
Monica: You raise an important issue, because security features that are native to cellular and
things that cannot migrate to Wi-Fi and that are
CBRS is often cast against Wi-Fi. Why do you that we inherit from the carrier market. They are
mission critical.
need CBRS if you have Wi-Fi? engineered into cellular gear but tend to be layers
System architects make connectivity of security that are added onto Wi-Fi technology.
Art: I should just pull out my yin-and-yang
determinations. They ask hard questions, like “Do
drawing that shows Wi-Fi and LTE together. To be
you have guaranteed access to bandwidth?”

Monica: At the same time, there is no scope for

substitution: Wi-Fi and CBRS will coexist.
But is wireline different? CBRS can be a

replacement for wireline. Are there cost or
complexity issues? Wireline is good for security
and reliability.
Art: Let’s talk about some of the things that we’ve

seen with manufacturing floors.
A group of people we were talking to have

industrial robots that move constantly and end up
wearing out network cables. In this scenario, a
wireless box on the robot is practical because the
motion of the robot constantly wears the cable
out. You’re not going to wear out the cable when
you’ve just got a network box hanging on the side
of it.
These are discoveries we make on the technology

side as we talk to customers. We don’t have a You have a more dynamic environment in the In places where the operator is carving off
view beforehand into the unsolved problems that enterprise, and wireless is much better suited for spectrum, a wider variety of UEs may already be
enterprises and IT people face in their particular that. available in their spectrum.
ecosystem.
That goes beyond CBRS, beyond US. In other In managed services, operators can run the SIMs
It’s the same for underground mining. The cost countries where they do not have CBRS, what do and the EPC, and take care of all the backend
and complexity of pulling conduits and protecting you see them doing? infrastructure. In addition to a nicely provisioned
against explosions is high, and there’s a huge LTE network, they can provide all the mobile
Art: You have places where either operators or devices for it, and potentially all the IoT devices
benefit to just putting everything on wireless. You
regulators are taking some of today’s spectrum that exist in their network can be brought to bear
don’t have the labor and electrician costs of
and allocating it for use in private infrastructure. on the customer’s problem that they’re trying to
putting fixed infrastructure in place. Every time
In Southern Germany, the industry collaboration solve with a private network.
you reconfigure the mine or reconfigure
to digitize a lot of the German infrastructure and
something underground, you have to pull people
the heavy industry is a great example of cross At the global level, a lot of the innovative thinking
back in and rebuild all the conduit paths.
collaboration within an industry. They’re going to in shared spectrum in the US translates well to
CBRS allows businesses to reconfigure themselves bring a lot of lessons to the table globally on the private LTE in either shared spectrum or licensed
effectively or add more IoT devices without benefits of competitors collaborating to get spectrum in other parts of the globe.
additional labor costs around adding new or economies of scale around some of these
technologies they need for the private industrial Monica: This is good, because the US is a big
reconfiguring conduits containing network paths.
space. market, but you want to be in line with the rest of
Monica: It’s more than just the immediate cost the world to give you more options and a bigger
savings. It is a different way to run operations. market.

An enterprise with a private LTE network might

want to leverage the devices that its employees
have, as you suggested. How can it do that if it is
a private network, and employees want their
devices to work everywhere?
Art: At this point, the answer to that is the dual-

SIM devices. Until the neutral-host situation is
squared away and well understood, the dual-SIM
devices have the potential to be that bridge.
This brings to mind what we’re seeing in

healthcare, specifically in larger facilities where
clinical wireless devices have been built and are
attached to Wi-Fi. There, you’ve got hundreds of
patients watching videos on YouTube, Netflix or
Amazon Prime, all from their beds. But you also
requirements and high number of users you have When operators have their name advertised in the
have all the employees on Wi-Fi at the same time.
in healthcare environments. upper left-hand corner of the phone, they have
Clinical devices are competing against that the veto authority over whether the network will carry
As you mentioned, the neutral-host model is not their traffic, because they want their brand
patients’ entertainment, and people in healthcare
quite there yet. How important is it going to be, experience to be awesome.
are asking: “Can I take a clinical wireless device
both for CBRS and, in general, for in-building
and put it on clean spectrum within CBRS?”
coverage? It’s going to be a journey to get a lot of this
Will we end up with all the medical wireless defined. There are a lot more things to unpack
Art: It’s unknown. In our market in the United here to get to the destination.
devices shipping dual stack with CBRS and Wi-Fi?
States, our providers compete on network quality
If you have an uncongested Wi-Fi environment,
and network reach. Could it make sense to have Monica: What do you expect mobile operators
put it in Wi-Fi. If you’re in a competitive
shared infrastructure inside buildings? Yes, it do? Clearly, they can have CBRS in public areas,
environment – for instance in a larger facility –
could. but with respect to the enterprise, how are they
you can put all your clinical wireless devices on
going to manage that?
clean spectrum. Our experience with small cells in the SpiderCloud
product family has taught us that the design Art: CBRS is just ideally suited for indoors. When
The nice thing with private LTE is that, because of
strategy is different across operators. Every you do engineering work for indoor systems, you
HIPAA regulations, you’re going to keep all the
operator has a slightly different configuration that must achieve what’s called macro dominance,
traffic inside the building. The benefit is that the
they’d like to see the network be designed in. where the internal signal must be greater than the
scope of your HIPAA audits will continue to be
macro signal, so that you capture the mobile
within the physical structure and the local IT- If we’re going to a shared environment with CBRS, device and keep it on the indoor network.
controlled infrastructure, and will not include a what is the design strategy that is going to be
public provider. used to implement the underlying LTE There are places in the country – New York City, in
infrastructure? The network design needs to be particular – where, because of the number of
Monica: A combination of private and neutral-
thought through when you start actually sharing older buildings and the amount of clear glass, in
host networks can address the tough
the environment.

certain places you need a strong RF signal to build the end-to-end solution for CBRS. What is infrastructure and operate it themselves as they
dominate the macro. special about your approach to CBRS? do with Wi-Fi today.
It would be great if you could hand off to a piece Art: We’ve built a low-cost indoor system that With private LTE, operators can provide the back
of spectrum that is still on the operator’s network, builds on the expertise we have with our system end, the SIM management, the KPIs and a support
but unused by the macro, when you enter the being approved by three of the four major desk, and they can leverage all their installed
building, and CBRS allows you to do that. operators. infrastructure to provide new revenue.
You could end up providing service to a lot more For us to do CBRS, we needed to build another We’ve done work with MOCN so that you can
buildings at a lower price if you were bringing in LTE radio, which we know how to do, and add in advertise both a private LTE network and the
CBRS as secondary spectrum for an operator, the SAS code for the proxy CBSD to request operator’s public network inside the building. You
versus attempting to run co-channel with the spectrum from the SAS infrastructure. It wasn’t get a twofer, where you can layer on private
macro and needing to provide the power levels inventing something new for us. infrastructure that is adjacent to and has the same
necessary to dominate the macro. coverage as the public network.
More importantly, because our LTE infrastructure
Monica: Will operators pay for it? Or will they is approved for connection to the operator That opens up new ways to provide more value-
have the enterprise venue owners lower the cost networks, operators have tested CBRS with us added services, on top of the same infrastructure
and then share the infrastructure or use the quickly and easily. investment.
infrastructure?
Our solution also has the potential, via MOCN, to Monica: What does the future of CBRS look like?
Art: That remains to be seen. We have seen open up a market for the operator community to
pressure on mobile operators to divert capital provide CBRS for private LTE and leverage all their Art: There many exciting things happening
away from LTE and enterprise towards 5G. backend services, and use public LTE as an around CBRS and bringing the 5G waveform onto
extension of the existing network infrastructure it. That’s the next frontier for the CBRS Alliance.
A low-cost LTE solution to be provided and on the public side. 5G will come into the private infrastructure via
procured by the enterprise is attractive to the shared spectrum, in addition to regular licensed
enterprise IT folks that value LTE and want to Monica: There is a lot of continuity there from a spectrum.
satisfy their employees’ indoor signal needs. product point of view, but CBRS in private
networks adds new use cases. The combination of 5G and edge computing
There’s a swing towards enterprise funding on brings an unprecedented potential access to
licensed-spectrum systems because the capital Art: Cellular is like a foreign land for the enterprise infrastructure and could bring game-
within the operator community has moved to 5G. enterprise, as I learned while I was at SpiderCloud. changing investments within the enterprise itself.
The way cellular is discussed on the enterprise
If you have an interior investment inside your side is that “it is Wi-Fi with an insane $50 a month Ten years ago, private data centers in the
building and you’re not a really large customer charge – why would you want to pay for that?” enterprise were special beasts. Cloud computing
that can get operator attention and get it done, turned it all upside down and changed
you end up seeking a low-cost solution to solve On the cellular side, there is a complex, globe- everything.
your problem yourself – a solution that’s been spanning machine that allows me to turn on my
sanctioned by the operator and approved for phone in every country in the world. It works, and We think cloud computing‘s disruption of
connection to their network. I drive in my car and carry calls. enterprise data centers can be repeated in
enterprise communications, with the potential of
Monica: Let’s talk a little bit about what you guys Enterprises do not understand cellular. That private infrastructure and cellular being brought
at Corning do. You do have all the experience to means that they probably can’t build the cellular

inside and treated at parity with the rest of the think is going to happen and we want to be part operator – I don’t trust their competence to not
infrastructure. of that. down my network all the time with routing
problems.”
Things such as PBXs, private chat and video are Monica: This type of private cellular network
being disrupted. It could all be on public services gives enterprises the capability to expand what Five years later, MPLS had mostly replaced frame
built on top of the phone, because cellular scales they are doing without having to build it on their relay, because the economics made sense. We will
to 130 million to 140 million people. You’ve got own infrastructure. It offers a common ground see the same kind of embrace of cellular mobility
people building for 50,000 employees in an that is cost effective and revenue generating for that enterprise folks are holding at arm’s length
enterprise. both enterprise and operators. right now.
A lot of enterprise architects think: “How do I Art: A few years back, on the enterprise side, The next generation of IT leaders is already
throw a lot of my communications infrastructure frame relay was the network technology of choice looking at the old technology and asking: “Why
overboard and fully embrace cellular natively? for private networks. You saw network architects are we still doing this? Why can’t we throw it
How do I throw the legacy technology overboard saying: “Oh, MPLS will never happen. I’m not overboard?” It’s going to be fun times.
and embrace mobile?” That is a wave that we going to exchange IP routing tables with an

About Corning
Corning is one of the world’s leading innovators in materials science, with a 168-year track record of life-changing
inventions. Corning applies its unparalleled expertise in glass science, ceramics science, and optical physics, along with its
deep manufacturing and engineering capabilities, to develop category-defining products that transform industries and
enhance people’s lives. Corning succeeds through sustained investment in RD&E, a unique combination of material and
process innovation, and deep, trust-based relationships with customers who are global leaders in their industries.
About Art King

As part of the IBN Technologies team, Art leads the development of enterprise services definitions and business case
propositions for customers and partners. Art is Vice Chair of the Services Working Group in the Small Cell Forum. He
came to Corning via the SpiderCloud Wireless acquisition and was formerly a lead in IT architecture and operations
for Nike Inc. where he held various global roles over 10 years. Prior to Nike, he led the build out of two multinational
engineering and consulting organizations for an IP services network vendor in the service provider industry.

NetNumber | CBRS makes it easier for the enterprise to deploy private LTE
networks
A conversation between Catherine Melquist, Senior Director of Global Channel Partner Development,
NetNumber, and Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili
CBRS makes private LTE networks more Our mission is to facilitate the changing future of Monica: For you, as well as for most players in
attractive and manageable to the enterprise. telecommunications networks by reducing the wireless industry, the focus on private
With the adoption of IoT and a more pervasive latency, simplifying the signaling core, and networks, rather than on public service to
reliance on wireless connectivity, the helping clients to take full advantage of cloud- individual subscribers, is a new thing.
performance, reliability and security needs of native platforms.
the enterprise grow. Private LTE networks can CBRS is going to be part of the growing private
meet the new enterprise requirements, but Our platform, which we call ALL-G, helps LTE market. What do you do in this area, in the
they have to do so while keeping complexity operators transition their networks from 2G all the context of private networks?
down. way through to 5G. Then on top of that, we’ve
repurposed this platform for use as the Catherine: We provide the core network
In this conversation with Catherine Melquist, foundational core network software used in software. Ours is ideally suited for deployments
Senior Director of Global Channel Partner today’s private networks. with 15K (human and device) endpoints or less,
Development at NetNumber and President of and it enables enterprise operators to efficiently
the Mobile Satellite Users Association, we My role at NetNumber is to team with system manage the provisioning, configuration, and
talked about how CBRS private networks can integrator and ecosystem partners by giving them monitoring of endpoints while enabling their
reduce the complexity of public cellular tools and information that we can together use to specific applications, such as IoT data, video, voice
networks without compromising the develop the private network market. Private and other services. It is a lighter version of the
performance. networks are one of the telecom industry’s most carrier-grade 3GPP-compliant software we use
important growth segments, with analysts with our operator clients. We have downscaled it,
Monica Paolini: Catherine, before we get into estimating it to be an $11 billion industry in the especially for the needs of the enterprise market
CBRS, can you tell us what you do at NetNumber? next five years. and system integrators designing the
deployments.
Catherine Melquist: NetNumber is a 20-year-old Spectrum is not a part of what we do. However,
company, headquartered outside of Boston in our distribution partners look to us for guidance The feedback we’ve been getting from our
Lowell, Massachusetts. We have a unique software on spectrum options that are available for private partners is that our subscriber-management and
platform called TITAN. It enables network networks and compatible with our software. CBRS other software products are carrier-grade but not
transformations that dramatically reduce capex, and the new OnGo service align well with our carrier-complex. Meaning they’re high-
opex and time to market for network operators. software and is an ideal spectrum option for performance but easy to use. We’re actively
many types of private networks. working now on several proofs of concept and

trials, both with ecosystem partners and users in

the field, making sure that everything aligns with
user requirements, the new CBRS spectrum
regulations, and OnGo specifications.
Monica: To your point, the private LTE network

technology is not that different from that used in
public networks. You need the same reliability, the
same performance, but you want to avoid the
complexity as much as possible.
It’s not just repurposing LTE technology. There is

more work that the ecosystem has to do. With
CBRS and private LTE, there is a growing number
of players. What new players do you see in both
private LTE and CBRS?
Catherine: That’s an interesting question,

because our base of core customers are tier-one
carriers from around the world. A year ago, they
weren’t so interested in private networks. I think
some of them saw PLTE as competing against
their own business.
I just returned, however, from a customer

conference in Warsaw, Poland. My impression
from that experience is that the tide appears to
As you mentioned when you introduced me, my are a few examples. With private LTE networks,
be turning, as more carriers are becoming
background is in satellite telecommunications. satellite companies can expand their business to
interested in getting into the private network
Satellite is unique because players in that arena include other wireless technologies while creating
business. With CBRS, private networks are
have both technology and market expertise and a new opportunity for satellite backhaul.
evolving from a concept to a real business
an interest in engaging in the broader telecom
opportunity. For carriers, it’s an opportunity to Monica: Satellite providers have been into the
and IT market.
expand their business with enterprise customers. private-network market for a long time, because
More and more, it appears they view it as a real Private networks are an exciting business in a lot of very rural areas, satellite is all there is. In
growth opportunity and a way to expand their opportunity for them, as their installed base of a way, they have more experience than other
telecom portfolio. customers are commercial and government service providers in private LTE.
enterprise operations on land, at sea, and in the
Carriers that don’t want to do private network Catherine: That’s exactly right. They have expert
air. Many of these enterprises are natural
deployments can team with system integrators to knowledge in edge connectivity, ubiquitous
candidates for private networks, as secure
create solutions, and they then can provide a coverage, and high-demand enterprise
connectivity is paramount. Mining operations,
managed service, which is a natural extension of requirements, including for data analytics and IoT
energy platforms, and tactical military operations
their existing business. deployments.

Satellite is also a part of the 5G 3GPP standards

and will play a critical role in the technology
rollout. Satellite companies have multiple
opportunities to expand their role in the broader
IT and telecom market. For example, they can
diversify their wireless service portfolio to include
LTE, Wi-Fi, and satellite, enabling single-source
shopping for enterprise customers. Or they can
offer hybrid solutions such as PLTE with satellite
backhaul.
As an interim play, I see satellite companies

teaming with LTE system integrators to spearhead
the design and deployment of private networks
while they focus on delivering a managed service.
Monica: This is from the service provider point of

view. What about the ecosystem in terms of the
suppliers? How is that changing, and how are you
working with them?
Catherine: That’s interesting too because, with

private networks, no one player offers every
element of a system. Each solution has multiple
technical components. However, enterprise
customers want to go to a single source to Monica: What is the role of cloud-based network At NetNumber, our core software is deployable
purchase, design and deploy a private network. management in facilitating private network on the customer’s premises or in public or private
So what’re emerging are ecosystem partnerships. deployments in the enterprise? clouds such as AWS, Azure and OpenStack
Companies are collaborating and comarketing environments. We are also positioned to support
integrated solutions. Catherine: There’s no question about the hybrid cloud deployments.
importance of cloud technology. According to
In ecosystems, enterprise customers look for Cisco, by 2021, 94% of data traffic will come from Monica: Security is of paramount importance in
component players with strong brand name the cloud. This shift is relevant to enterprise IoT private LTE networks. The requirements may vary,
recognition, as they see them as tested and deployments and private networks. but security is crucial to all enterprises, in all
validated. In turn, this helps qualify the quality verticals. How do you address that issue in private
and reliability of the partnering component Cloud-based network management enables networks?
players. enterprises to fully leverage the plethora of
network innovations emerging in the market, such Catherine: Inherent in a private network is a
Additionally, imperative is selecting a solution and as virtualization and container technologies, as higher form of security and resiliency. At the same
ecosystem partnership that can deliver a solution well as open-source middleware, all enabling real- time, threat vectors are increasing, and attack
that is sized for the operation, along with being time analytics. surfaces growing. With this, private networks
easy to deploy and manage. need to include rigorous security management,

from development to deployment. Security is a interoperability and implementation throughout a NetNumber also offers training programs and
critical component of any end-to-end ecosystem solution. professional services for system integrators
deployment. At NetNumber, we are intensely designing private networks and for managed
vigilant about our security discipline, and equally Monica: What does NetNumber do within the service personnel that support them. At
requiring of our ecosystem partners by CBRS value chain? NetNumber, we believe that our systems of
demanding the same level of diligence. support are equal in importance to our network
Catherine: Within the CBRS value chain, we
software. Our goal is to make private networks
Monica: How do you think CBRS is going to provide a PLTE foundational network core and
rely on our distribution partners, most of which easy to deploy and manage.
change private networks in the US?
are system integrators, to develop and deploy the Monica: Is scaling an issue? Some enterprises are
Catherine: We believe CBRS will be a real catalyst private network solutions. Enterprises can then big, most are small. Does your solution work for
for spurring growth in the private network market. operate and manage the network, or leave it to a all of them?
The CBRS Alliance is doing a steady job building third party to serve that function.
awareness for the newly available OnGo Catherine: Our TITAN network software does
technology and what it means to providers and Private network deployments can take the form of scale up and is used to manage the networks of
enterprise customers alike. portable, mobile, fixed and temporary solutions, some of the largest tier-one carriers in the world.
depending on the use case. Our software can be For private networks, however, our software stack
There seems to be much interest in this new form foundational to any of these solutions. Inherent in has been adapted specially for the size and
of connectivity both inside the United States and our capability is a centralized subscriber database simplicity of private network deployments.
beyond. The UK has already signaled that it, too, enabling easy management of both users and
will be making available a comparable system for devices. We’ve streamlined the capability of the software
sharing spectrum. We are very optimistic about so that it makes sense for virtually any vertical
the role CBRS will play in the future of data- Additionally, our software has a master edge market enterprise application. There are some
optimized, secure networking. It’s also a terrific architecture enabling interconnectivity between differences, too, in the ecosystem components
example of a public-private partnership. multiple edge nodes or networks and an even that you would use for a private network. With
more robust system of centralized subscriber CBRS, for example, specific types of radios are
Monica: CBRS is going to accelerate private management. needed to ensure connectivity with the SAS,
networks in the US, and this will also help other which is elemental to how CBRS works.
markets, even though the regulatory frameworks Monica: How is that different from the solutions
will be different. you have for a public network for carriers, in Monica: Today, CBRS is based on LTE, but 5G is
terms of complexity, functionality and coming along. How do you see the transition
In the CBRS ecosystem, there are a lot of different performance? Does the enterprise need to deploy from LTE to 5G in CBRS, and how are you
players that have to work together to ensure and control its own network? managing it at NetNumber?
interoperability – and that’s a non-negotiable
requirement for enterprises. How is the ecosystem Catherine: Carrier deployments can be more Catherine: One of the great attributes of CBRS
collaborating to make sure interoperability is real? sophisticated than enterprise, but that’s due to and OnGo is that the system has been designed
their large, million-plus subscriber scale. Nearly all to be compatible with 5G. Meaning all private
Catherine: For us, what’s important is quality the same functionality exists for smaller enterprise networks deployed today will be able to take full
throughout the entire ecosystem. We don’t do deployments, but the core software has been advantage of the accelerated speed and low
end-to-end deployments, but we are heavily adapted for a smaller user set of people and latency of 5G.
involved in testing our software with our devices.
ecosystem partners to ensure smooth

NetNumber is equally 5G focused. We have a continue at an even faster rate. We’re ready for Catherine: I think that’s exactly right. Again,
highly disciplined, agile-based development that, too! legacy components are always a part of any
program for TITAN. We are doing the enterprise network. Enterprises have to deal with
development work now so that we can help our And we will continue to support legacy network many factors when it comes to network
customers transform their networks to 5G when elements that will coexist with 5G. In the end, it’s management and evolution. How enterprises will
they are ready, and that includes private all about fulfilling the evolving needs of use cases move ahead will be unique to each one of them.
networks. and user-experience expectations for private NetNumber has the software, tools and
networks and the new OnGo spectrum. This is experience to help customers and channel
At the same time, NetNumber supports 2G, 3G core to TITAN and the future of NetNumber partners undertake these transformations,
and 4G legacy technologies, and our focus is business. including the deployment of private networks and
making sure our core network software is the use of CBRS’s new OnGo spectrum.
optimized for each private network deployment. Monica: How fast do you think the transition to
5G is going to be in the enterprise? As long as
As operators continue their 5G rollouts, we expect enterprises have the tools they need, they can set
the introduction of technology innovations to their own pace, with different enterprises setting
their own timelines.

About NetNumber
NetNumber brings nearly 20 years of experience delivering platforms that power global telecom and enterprise networks.
Our software-based signaling-control solutions accelerate delivery of new services like Private LTE and IoT/M2M solutions
across multi-gen networks, dramatically simplifying the core and reducing opex. These solutions span a range of network
types from 2G-3G-4G-5G to future G delivered on the industry’s first All-G signaling platform called TITAN. NetNumber
Data Services are essential for global inter-carrier routing, roaming, voice and messaging. Data powers fraud detection and
prevention solutions and enables enterprise B2B and B2C communications platforms. NetNumber multi-protocol signaling
firewall, fraud-detection, and robocalling solutions secure networks against current/emerging threats.
About Catherine Melquist

Catherine is the Senior Director of Global Channel Partner Development for NetNumber where she works on
developing distribution and ecosystem partnerships for private network and the full NetNumber suite of software
solutions targeting Carriers, Enterprise and Federal markets. Prior to joining NetNumber, Catherine has acquired
experience from over twenty years spent in the satellite industry. Additionally, Catherine serves as president of the
Mobile Satellite Users Association, a 25-year old organization whose mission is to promote satellite mobility
innovation, market development and optimized user experiences in the 5G era of mobility.

Radisys | OnGo certification strengthens the CBRS ecosystem

A conversation between Neeraj Patel, VP and GM, Software and Services, Radisys, and Monica Paolini,
Principal, Senza Fili
As CBRS is ready to take off, the market needs program. Radisys has been working behind the But before we get to the OnGo certification, what
equipment that is interoperable, performs as scenes on certification. is your view on the impact of CBRS in the US
expected and complies with the specifications. market?
This is especially important as a large number With OnGo, we have put together the automation
of users – mobile operators, WISPs, framework and the domain proxy, creating Neeraj: The CBRS shared spectrum – 3.5 to
enterprises, venue owners, neutral hosts – will effectively the engine to test CBSDs, the CBRS 3.7 GHz – is locked-up liquid gold in waiting. Now
deploy CBRS and share spectrum resources. devices, both type A and type B. that that spectrum is available, you see a lot of
The CBRS Alliance OnGo certification ensures new entrants.
Radisys is also involved in the CBRS devices. Our
that users can install CBRS equipment without
customers are putting these devices together, and You always have the incumbent service providers,
having to worry about interoperability,
they are powered by our MobilityEngine™ but you’re getting a lot of new entrants, folks that
coexistence and performance. Neeraj Patel, VP
portfolio of protocol stacks for LTE. you didn’t associate with providing wireless
and GM, Software and Services at Radisys, and
service, jumping into the fray.
Monica Paolini discuss why the ecosystem We also help our customers with the
needs OnGo certified products and the role implementation of the SAS agent, and the For example, you have the cable operators
that Radisys plays in the certification program. certification with the OnGo platform. In some coming in. You have new MVNOs. You have OTT
cases, we are also providing the EPC. players who are jumping in, saying: “Hey, we can
Monica Paolini: Neeraj, can you tell us what
provide this as a service.” It is completely breaking
Radisys is doing in the CBRS OnGo space? Cloudified enters into the SAS server, so it has down the barriers, especially in private enterprise
multiple touchpoints. networks and in applications such as mining or
Neeraj Patel: It’s incredibly exciting times for the
entire CBRS community with the OnGo venues such as stadiums. Tower companies are
We are extremely excited to see our customers
commercial launch. We have been involved with playing a very active role within the CBRS Alliance.
rolling out CBRS soon.
CBRS for a few years now, and it’s been a long At last count, there are more than 200 companies
and fun journey. Many of our customers and Monica: Compared to other technologies, where that are part of the CBRS Alliance. This shows how
partners in the 3.5 GHz shared-spectrum space, commercial deployments start gradually, with wide is the reach of CBRS. Before, it would have
are opening up new avenues in terms of use cases CBRS we’ve been waiting for some time, but now been really expensive to get a signal, and now
and deployment models. everything is ready to go. It’s a great feeling to they can use this shared spectrum.
finally move beyond trials. The certification is
At Radisys, we are involved with the WInnForum, There are devices that support CBRS as well, with
going to be an important part of it.
and through that we became involved with the the most recent being the iPhone 11 and 11 Pro.
CBRS Alliance and with the OnGo certification There are 11 or 12 different devices that are
already supporting Band 48, and this is critical,

because now you have the device ecosystem

ready to go. And you have these new entrants as
well as incumbents that are providing this service.
It’s going to open up opportunities.
If you look at the food chain, with CBRS, a

company like Radisys, which typically has focused
on the pure telco model, can now work with not
only traditional telecom service providers, but
also this new class of service providers.
The regional WISPs are also jumping onto CBRS,

because it’s a model through which they can
provide effective wireless service to regions that
are underserved.
We’re really excited about where we find

ourselves and the market overall for CBRS.
Monica: There are a lot of new entrants, but there

are also the incumbents. But everybody is working
on the same page, because of the sharing of
spectrum, which is going to allow for a much
more efficient and intense use of the 3.5 GHz Coming back to CBRS, while we are taking the access point. Then you have the user devices that
band. That raises the issue of how all can coexist shared spectrum, there has to be some level of connect to it.
and interoperate. enforcement of how to use the spectrum.
This is where certification comes in. How do we
That’s where certification comes in. If you have The first level of enforcement is when it becomes ensure that the device is transmitting and doing
your private network, interoperability becomes available, meaning, for instance, when the Navy is what it is supposed to do in a regulatory
less of an issue. But across CBRS networks, it’s not using it. compliance model?
going to be crucial that everybody can play
That’s where the SAS server is a critical That’s where the FCC comes in. The FCC has specs
together. What is the role of certification in this?
component, sitting in the cloud, in the core of the that define how you can transmit in terms of
Neeraj: It’s a great point. If you look at the network. Multiple companies – the Googles, the power levels, interference and so on.
telecom market overall, one of the key CommScopes, the Federated Wirelesses of the
world – are playing a huge role in the SAS server. Then you also have the CBRS Alliance, which has
cornerstones of success is interoperability.
formed the OnGo certification program that
Even if you talk about O-RAN Alliance, what is the The SAS server needs an agent to talk to, and ensures that all the CBSD devices have a uniform
big thing that they are driving? It is that’s where the SAS agent comes in. Think of this way to talk to each other, the user device to the
interoperability, because we want open standards, as a master-slave or a client-server kind of CBSD, and the CBSD to the SAS server.
open interfaces and open architectures. relationship. The SAS agent is on every CBSD and
That’s where the OnGo certification comes in, with
a lot of interoperability test cases. Radisys has

taken the lead here, working with the CBRS For the user, CBRS as a service is transparent. It developed for the device that talks to the access
Alliance on OnGo certification. should be as seamless as using my femto server point to get certified.
or cell phone booster at home. I’m not worried
We are fueling and writing the test cases on about whether my phone will connect to the The third level of certification is between the
behalf of OnGo. Every vendor who comes in must network. All of the interoperability has been taken actual CBSD device and the SAS server.
go through a rigorous set of compliance checks, care of before I connect to that small-cell device
with the FCC first, and second, with the OnGo There are multiple stages of certification, and they
at home.
certification program, to ensure that they can include interoperability testing, validation and
work against this automated test platform that In the same manner, if I’m a private enterprise integration. Radisys plays a critical role in how the
has been created. The testing process is such as Disneyland, and I have deployed 3.5 GHz, CBSD devices are coming onto the network.
automated, and this makes it faster and easier. I should be able to connect to it in the same
Most CBSD device vendors have been doing small
completely seamless fashion.
With the OnGo certification, we can ensure that cells for 4G/LTE to date. With the CBRS radio, they
each and every device can provide this service All the magic that happens is seamless to you and must support Band 48 and have a SAS agent
before it gets into the market. me as users, in terms of the signal going from integrated. They’ve done the interop testing
your device to the CBSD – the access point – and validation with the SAS server, and they now have
I think that this two-pronged approach that from the CBSD to the SAS server, so that you can a CBSD device.
includes the FCC and the OnGo certification actually get the permission to start operating in
program ensures that we provide a reliable There are going to be a lot of players. From the
the CBRS band.
service to the users. Wi-Fi space, players are coming in, saying: “Hey, I
Monica: There are specifications from the CBRS have a Wi-Fi box. Now, I want to add cellular
Users will benefit from the same level of Alliance that are used for the testing, correct? capability to it. I don’t have the money to buy
compliance and quality of service, the same licensed spectrum,” or, “I don’t have access to
features, and the same experience that they How does the testing work? You mentioned licensed spectrum.”
would have on a public LTE or 5G network. automation. What are the benefits that
automation gives you? Using the shared spectrum that CBRS has opened
Monica: Let me ask you a question to clarify. up in the 3.5 GHz band, companies are able to
When somebody goes and buys their iPhone with Neeraj: We have created a test framework, based now offer an LTE experience along with the Wi-Fi
CBRS, do they need to worry about the on the specifications of the CBRS Alliance and experience.
certification? OnGo. This is an automated framework with
hundreds of test cases. We’ll add additional test They must go through different levels of
Neeraj: They don’t need to, because if they are cases to it as they become available. certification for Band 48, and that’s where OnGo
buying one, that device has already been certified. certification fits in.
The iPhone, for example, has been certified by the Radisys enables the test cases but does not
FCC to operate in Band 48. certify: we are not the certification house. That is Monica: Certification will make it easier for
OnGo. I just wanted to clarify that. enterprises – especially small ones – to deploy
When they connect up to a CBSD device, that OnGo. It is going to be very clear to them that
CBSD device will only work once it has gone We work behind OnGo to help the Alliance write this is a product that’s certified and that they can
through OnGo certification to ensure that it is new test cases and support them as they are use it with any SAS.
compliant with all the specifications of the CBRS introduced. We are writing pretty much all of the
Alliance. test cases for CBSD class A or class B devices. Do the fixed CPEs need to be certified, when for
There is an additional certification that OnGo has example you have WISPs with a network that
connects to fixed CPEs?

Neeraj: Yes. CPEs, smartphones, the actual access

points, everything has to get certified. That’s what
all the work that has gone on for the last two
years or more has focused on.
Monica: This is really important, that all the

pieces work together to create the confidence in
the market.
At Radisys, you work not just on certification, but

also to enable end-to-end CBRS networks. In this
context, how do you support the new entrants or
small cell vendors? A lot of CBRS will use small
cells, and many of them will be deployed indoors.
What is your role there?
Neeraj: A lot of our existing customers are

building small cells. They’ve added the CBRS radio
capability.
We have helped them in the migration by

building the SAS agent for them, or by integrating we’ve written the test cases. Of course, they still Many small-cell vendors are working to provide a
a SAS agent for them. We have also helped them have to go through the testing independently streamlined EPC for private networks, both for
with the CBRS add-on features. We have added from us. CBRS and licensed LTE.
LAA features, for those who need LAA, for
This is something that we’ve done for 3G and LTE, Neeraj: If you look at it from a network
example. and we are doing for 5G. Now, we’ve brought that perspective, there is still an EPC. The device
Then we’ve brought that in with the end-to-end into the CBRS domain. comes on, and it says: “OK, now, I’m going to go
integration of the SAS server. We work at on the CBRS channel and not the public LTE
Monica: Do you work with the SAS players as channel.” Then I have to understand how to route
different levels with our customers. Not only are
well? You need to have the SAS agent to work that call. Radisys has an EPC offering for CBRS as
we enabling them from a software perspective,
with all the SASs. well as other cellular interfaces. That EPC forms
we are helping them productize and
operationalize CBRS with the system integration the entry into the SAS server.
Neeraj: Absolutely. We have capabilities to write
capabilities that we offer. the SAS agent. That’s a plug-on module that we Monica: Who are your main CBRS customers?
can provide to our customers. On the other hand,
In the backend, we have automation frameworks
we work with the different vendors for the SAS Neeraj: We work with the device guys in terms of
that we use to take them through the testing. A
server. the access points, not the actual UE devices. We
lot of customers come to us and say: “Hey,
help them with the UE interoperability and the UE
Radisys, help us do the certification testing.” Monica: Another element of CBRS networks is the device testing. The access point is one endpoint,
EPC. For the enterprise used to Wi-Fi networks, the other endpoint being the user device.
We can definitely help them there: we know the
having to deal with an EPC is something new, just
other end of the certification program because
like dealing with the SAS.

On the network side, we work with the EPC CBRS at present. And there’s room for additional you associate with, but then, when you start
players, or we work with the access point guys entrants to come in. reading this, and you connect all the dots, you
who also want to bring in an EPC. just look at the opportunity. It is tremendous.
What the whole industry now wants is to create
Then we also work with the SAS server players. the real proof points, where we now have multiple Monica: There are many underserved niches with
We work across the board, with multiples of these CBRS clouds and deployments that are out there. a potential that CBRS can unlock.
ecosystem players who happen to be our We are definitely seeing interest from the new
customers. entrants. Neeraj: At the end of the day, it’s all about
economics. You’re getting the benefits of licensed
Monica: Because of the breadth of your work, Besides the cable guys or the WISPs, we are also spectrum without the economic burden of
you are seeing different CBRS business models. seeing the OTT players. They are jumping in with licensed spectrum, the auction. We all know how
CBRS enables different business models, and this service. It’s the use cases such as private much spectrum costs.
vendors and service providers can take different networks, neutral host and large venues, such as
roles within the value chain. stadiums, that are driving CBRS forward. This is not just to say: “Hey, I have some
spectrum, and let’s just start radiating, and we can
In closing, how do you see the market These use cases are not presently well-served by get up a service.” There’s a right level of
developing? There are so many possibilities. Do the incumbent operators. These new players also regulatory compliance. There’s a right level of
you see one direction that is going to be have specific domain experts for enterprise checks and balances to ensure a high quality of
dominant? customers. service and a seamless service. There is a
framework to allow for roaming from a CBRS
Neeraj: The hardest part in all our jobs is to This is where a lot of the innovation is happening. network into a public network. CBRS is becoming
crystal ball it. You know this better than me. We Many PGA golf courses are going CBRS. more and more an integral part of the overall
definitely feel there’s a healthy ecosystem for Disneyland has said that it will go CBRS, for wireless landscape of the future in the US.
example. It’s not the first set of customers that

About Radisys
Radisys, a global leader in open telecom solutions, enables service providers to drive disruption with new open
architecture business models. Radisys’ innovative disaggregated and virtualized enabling technology solutions leverage
open reference architectures and standards, combined with open software and hardware to power business
transformation for the telecom industry, while its world-class services organization delivers systems integration expertise
necessary to solve communications’ and content providers’ complex deployment challenges. For more information, visit
www.Radisys.com.
About Neeraj Patel

Neeraj heads the Software and Services business for Radisys. He has held numerous management positions within the company,
including sales, business development and product line management. He brings 20 years of telecom experience with expertise in
various Wireless RAN (Mobility, LTE Advanced, 5G, Fixed and CBRS) as well as deep packet inspection, switching and access
technologies. He joined Radisys in 2011 as part of the acquisition of Continuous Computing. Prior to this, he was with Intel and
Trillium where he was involved in company strategy, product management, corporate marketing and sales development in highly
competitive as well as greenfield markets. Neeraj holds a Masters in Electrical Engineering from the University of Southern
California.

Sequans | OnGo modules accelerate and widen CBRS support in IoT devices
A conversation between Mickael Batariere, Broadband Product Line Manager, Sequans Communications and
Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili
CBRS is a key technology for IoT applications supporting CBRS. We are very pleased to Mickael: Until recently the availability of CBRS
in the US, especially in the enterprise, where it contribute to the OnGo launch with the recent modules that are optimized for the enterprise and
supports private LTE networks. As CBRS release of our CBRS modules. IoT market have been very limited. In June 2019,
commercial deployments start, the availability we launched two modules, the CB410 and CB610,
of OnGo devices is crucial for the success of Monica: You're a chipset company. Why did you that are optimized for the IoT market on CBRS.
IoT applications. The market needs a wide decide to develop a module specifically for CBRS?
range of devices – new and existing ones – to Monica: What is the difference between the two
Mickael: The module enables the customer to modules?
support different use cases. In this integrate CBRS connectivity into their products
conversation with Mickael Batariere, CBRS and
very easily. Mickael: The data rates that you can achieve. One
Broadband Product Line Manager, Sequans is Cat 4 and the other Cat 6. Each module is cost
Communications, we talked about how OnGo It's very small, very easy to integrate. Any product
modules quickly and cost-effectively bring to can be connected to a CBRS network when the
market devices that can connect to the new vendor adds the CBRS module.
CBRS networks.
Monica: How big is it?
Monica Paolini: Can you tell us what Sequans
does, and what your role at the company is? Mickael: It is very small, a 29x32 mm LCC
package. I will show you [see photo].
Mickael Batariere: Sequans is a chipset company,
and a leading provider of LTE chips and module Monica: A module can support many IoT
solutions for broadband and Internet of things. At applications. What role do you expect the
Sequans, I am the product manager of the module to play within the CBRS
broadband product portfolio, and in particular, ecosystem?
the CBRS product line.
Mickael: The module connects the device
Monica: Sequans has been working on IoT for a to the network. It allows the device to
long time. CBRS is really nothing new, but can you transfer all the assets, all the information to
tell us a little bit about what you're doing the network.
specifically within the CBRS space at Sequans?
Monica: Is it going to be cost effective?
Mickael: Sequans' broadband products have What business models can a CBRS module
been supporting 3.5 GHz deployments worldwide support?
for over a decade now. And naturally, we’re

optimized. For a very low price, you can add

connectivity, and we have two flavors for different
data rates.
Monica: That’s valuable because different IoT

devices may better suited to one module or the
other.
Are you targeting your existing customers, new

customers, or both?
Mickael: Sequans is reaching existing customers

and new customers. Existing customers are mainly
using our chipsets, and now the modules enable
them and new customers to develop other
products.
Monica: The modules can be used in new

devices. But they can also be used in existing
devices, right?
lot of applications are still using Wi-Fi today and There will be consumer products that will connect
Mickael: Exactly. We have customers that are they will migrate to CBRS networks. on the OnGo networks as well, once it has been a
using the modules to make new versions of bit more widely deployed.
existing products for CBRS. We have other For example, one of our customers has wireless
customers that are developing new products for tablets that today connect to Wi-Fi. It plans to Monica: I agree that the enterprise will go first.
CBRS. make a version of the tablet with our module that It's easier to deploy private CBRS networks, and
connects to the private CBRS network. they give the enterprise control they want to
Monica: This is the kind of flexibility that you have.
need in IoT, because there are so many Monica: In many Wi-Fi networks some of the
applications out there that you can deploy. For applications can be moved to LTE and CBRS. In Now, there are two things that enterprises are
what applications will your customers use the that case, the enterprise can continue to use the worried about.
CBRS modules? application in its CBRS network.
The first one you address very well. It's a question
Some of these applications are for the enterprise, of do we have devices out there for CBRS? With
Mickael: A lot. There are a very large number of
possible applications that benefit from OnGo, that some are for smart cities, and some for individual the module, you address that.
consumer users. What do you think is going to
may be used in indoor or outdoor private The other question that I often get is about the
networks. We see a demand in CPEs, gateways for happen? Is CBRS going to be more successful on
the enterprise side or on the consumer side? market. CBRS is a solution that only works in the
broadband access, and industrial IoT solutions.
We see the need to provide a new connection in Mickael: The first basket we expect to emerge is
many different industries. the enterprise, the end-to-end business. And this
We see IoT products for smart-building initiatives. is the market we are focusing on today.
We have projects, for example, on smart meters. A

US. Is the US a big enough market to justify the

commitment of device vendors?
Mickael: CBRS is specific to the US, but our

solution benefits from the experience we have on
3.5 GHz deployments outside of the US. The
solution integrates all the technology that we
have developed for the other markets. We are
excited to have a CBRS solution based on this
deep experience.
Monica: You already have experience in the

3.5 GHz band. Can OEM customers outside the US
use your modules?
Mickael: It is possible. CBRS is for the US market,

but the module can also be used outside the US.
Monica: What is the difference, from a regulatory

point of view?
Mickael: In the US, the regulator, the FCC, sets

the rules for the use of the CBRS band, 3GPP’s
Band 48. Outside the US, it's a little bit different,
but the module covers both.
Monica: What will the deployment roadmap for Last year, we announced a strategic investment in Monica: This gives the enterprise, and your
CBRS be? Today, we have LTE. In the coming the company’s 5G program. customers, a clear evolution path. They don't have
years, how will 5G fit into this picture? to start from scratch. They don't have to throw
Monica: Is it going to be possible for the everything away and start all over.
Mickael: In CBRS, LTE is first step toward 5G. enterprise to upgrade their CBRS modules from
LTE to 5G? Mickael: Yes, exactly. It's compatible. The new
Right now, we have launched our CBRS module,
but Sequans has also been working on 5G for solution will be both 5G and be 4G backward
Mickael: Yes, they will be able to with the new compatible for existing LTE-based products.
several years. In the roadmap, we have a 5G version of our module. Today, CBRS is based on
solution for 2021 that will address the broadband LTE technology, but the next versions of the
business, and also the new markets that 5G will modules will be based on 5G.
open.

About Sequans Communications

Sequans Communications S.A. (NYSE: SQNS) is a leading provider of single-mode LTE chips and modules for the Internet
of Things (IoT) and a wide range of broadband data devices. Founded in 2003, Sequans has developed and delivered
seven generations of 4G technology and its chips are certified and shipping in networks around the world. Today, Sequans
offers two LTE product lines: StreamrichLTE™, optimized for broadband and high-performance IoT devices, including CPE,
routers, and gateways; and StreamliteLTE™, optimized for narrowband IoT devices, including wearables, trackers, and
sensors. Visit Sequans online at www.sequans.com.
About Mickael Batariere

Mickael Batariere has more than 20 years of experience in wireless access technologies and semiconductors with dual
competencies in marketing and technology in 5G NR, 4G LTE, IoT, LTE-M, NB-IoT, and WiMAX. He joined Sequans in 2007 and his
many responsibilities over the last 13 years include research, customer support, project management, and product marketing.
Today he leads product lifecycle management for all Sequans’ broadband products, both chipsets and modules, for 4G, 5G, and
CBRS. Mikael’s prior positions at Sequans include customer support, customer program management, and product marketing for
4G LTE, broadband, IoT, and WiMAX. Prior to Sequans, Mikael held technical positions at Sagem, and Motorola Labs in Chicago,
USA, where he worked on the company’s 4G research program.

Intel | CBRS: Learning to listen to the enterprise

A conversation between Caroline Chan, VP and General Manager, Network Business Incubator Division, Intel,
and Monica Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili
CBRS gives the enterprise the opportunity to year, we realized all this really started coming Caroline: I don’t get bored.
move beyond Wi-Fi and increase the depth together.
and width of their wireless infrastructure. Monica: What you said relates very well to CBRS.
CBRS brings spectrum and a broad ecosystem We now have a situation in which the network There is a great opportunity for CBRS to succeed
to build private LTE and 5G networks. But for resembles the cloud. That becomes a fertile in the enterprise, but CBRS is an access solution.
CBRS to succeed, the ecosystem has to ground to incubate new businesses that use IoT, But the enterprise needs more than just access as
develop solutions that meet the enterprise’s AI, or blockchain. I have a current project on it deploys private networks. It needs to run
needs, culture, and expectations. And the first blockchain and private networks in the enterprise. services and applications.
step to achieve that is to listen to enterprise.
For a long time, we have been talking about how Lately I have been talking a lot with companies
I talked to Caroline Chan, VP and General 5G has to go beyond mobile broadband. That’s that use edge computing and AI to help
Manager in the Network Business Incubator the traditional 4G-plus-one concept. We need to enterprises roll out the networks they need. You
Division at Intel, about how we can learn more move ahead because of things like URLLC and the need all of those ingredients to get the enterprise
from the enterprise and how this can help the new scheduling algorithms that we put into 5G. on board with CBRS. You talk to many enterprises;
ecosystem fine tune how to work with the We can bring the network to new areas in which, what do you hear from them?
enterprise. traditionally, operators don’t play a very
prominent role. Caroline: Monica, you’re absolutely right. I
Monica Paolini: CBRS is now commercial in the typically talk to the CIOs and, for them, access is
US. There is a lot excitement. Finally, we can move That’s what Intel realized. We need to take a really a tool. It’s a mechanism. Their angle is
beyond trials and start on real deployments. Intel broader view of what a network does. I started about improving business results. It’s about
has been very active on this front. Caroline, it is heading a new team, the Network Business bringing business intelligence, and this is another
great to catch up with you to talk about the latest Incubator Division (NBID). We’re going to new word for artificial intelligence.
developments that you see in this area. frontiers, breaking into new markets and working
through a broad ecosystem. It’s a very interesting What they want to find out is: “How do I improve
But first of all, Caroline, your role at Intel has role that I’ve had for about eight months. Every my operations’ efficiency? How do I reach a
recently changed. Can you give us an update? day brings a new NBID engagement to us. bigger audience? How do I solidify my current
customer base?”
Caroline Chan: For the last few years, I’ve been Monica: I’m sure you’re not going to get bored at
focusing on driving a cloud-native network, with a all. A couple weeks ago, I was in London for a retail
virtualized RAN edge compute. Finally, late last tech week, with our Vice President of Retail

Technology, talking with different top-tier

retailers in Europe.
IKEA presented before we did. The gentleman

from IKEA was talking about how they need not
to just attract more foot traffic, they really want to
make sure that when you enter an IKEA store, you
have already been pre-educated on what the IKEA
portfolio is.
Let’s say you look at a piece of furniture. They

want you to be able to visualize what that looks
like in your living room. You can do this on IKEA’s
website today, and on mobile devices – through
the IKEA application driving a lot of innovative
technology.
Let’s say you like a couch. You wonder if it looks

good in your living room. You go home and
measure the size, look at the fabric, match the
color, and then you decide. But from the minute
you left the store, IKEA was probably losing the
deal. They want to provide all of that information
to you while you’re at the store, or before you You and I have known each other for a long time. Monica: Enterprise connectivity is more than cost
enter the store. You knew me when I started talking about how cutting. CBRS, for instance, requires the
virtualizing the network was not just for the sake enterprises to do something fundamentally
Think about what the connectivity means. What of virtualizing the RAN. At the end of the day, it different to become truly wireless, to go beyond
they want is to understand you – what you would becomes a pricing discussion if you don’t bring just giving access to the employees, tenants and
like – before you even enter a store. While you’re additional value through the network. guests. These things are important, but they’re
at the store, they want you to have an experience only the first step.
that leads you to make buying decisions right That’s why I feel like I’m in the second part of my
there. journey now. We need to make it happen now. To enable enterprise applications and services,
We need to bring value. Otherwise, it just you may need low latency, edge computing,
The IKEA presentation was super interesting, and becomes a pricing war that’s not good for intelligence. You have to get all of that together,
then we went on stage. We talked about IT in anybody in the ecosystem. and we are in a good position to do that now.
retail tech facilitated by 5G and edge compute.
We didn’t even rehearse! We’re like: “Just what The good news is that CBRS brings all the What is it that Intel is doing in this context?
you need, this is what we have!” It matched so elements necessary to support these types of
perfectly. enterprise applications with incredibly solid Caroline: We started with the cloud-native
footing in a neutral host networking architecture. concept. You may have heard me talk about what

we do in Japan with Rakuten. It really started with

a safe foundation, which is to make access much
more cloud-native. And, then we followed the
principle that the cloud guys have already
followed for years, in automating the network:
make it run on off-the-shelf servers, reducing the
cost and the complexity of operation.
That is the advantage of CBRS and the benefit

CBRS brings in support of these cloud-native
applications. We take the same reference design
and software stack, and work with our customers
and partners to bring them into CBRS, seamlessly.
Recently, we announced the acquisition of a

brand-new company called Smart Edge. Smart
Edge focuses on an edge stack that runs on a One example is American Dream. It’s a large provider, and provided the RF equipment. They
cellular network as well as on Wi-Fi and SD-WAN, entertainment-retail complex that just opened up use our system called virtualized RAN and edge
and that focuses on the enterprise. We acquired in New Jersey near the Giants’ stadium. It was compute. We’re going in together.
this company with the mind-set that we will need written up in the Wall Street Journal recently. How
to fortify the software. does that CBRS private network help transform American Dream wants to have a private network
the entertainment complex? How does it operate? that serves their tenants. Obviously, there will be a
If you go into enterprises, the network has to be 4G and 5G public network there too, with a
very simple. The network needs to be run – I dare It’s very interesting. We just got started, and work consumer focus. The CBRS private network
to say – as if it were a Wi-Fi network. We need to is underway, but the deployment of this complex focuses on the operation of the enterprise and its
make the access simple. We need to make the will continue until 2022. It’s an ongoing effort – by tenants – for instance, for point-of-sale
operation and managing of the network simple. phases as they build out the entire 60 acres of transactions, for guiding the customers in such a
We need to focus on the aspects that the land. It’s going to be such a learning experience large complex, or for collecting the customers
enterprise needs, such as data acquisition, data for all of us participating there. preferences and using intelligence to extract value
security, and getting the data to and from the from them. Think about all the data that retail
cloud – which they all have as either hybrid, Monica: American Dream has the opportunity to shops constantly try to collect through royalty
private or public. We need to let that data be start from scratch: it’s a greenfield deployment. cards and that now they are able to get right in
utilized by the CIO as easily as is the data from They have been looking at different technology the store.
Wi-Fi. options, and their network is not just CBRS.
A private network gives all the tenants – all the
For CBRS, we’ve worked with our customers, such Why did they choose CBRS? How did you set up retail shops and entertainments and hotels there
as JMA Wireless, Ruckus, Cisco, all the name the network? – the tools to gather all the intelligence they need
brands that you’ve heard of. to run their operation very efficiently.
Caroline: We participated through our customer
– in this case, JMA Wireless, which is a very large

The strength of CBRS comes from its enterprise

mind-set: it starts and ends with an enterprise, is a
game-changer for the enterprise.
American Dream is one of the pioneer cases, but

not the only one. We have several others that
we’re working on.
One of them is in a sports venue. We are building

out a private CBRS network to help the venue
improve the fan experience and to help improve
the coaching experience.
Hotels and other hospitality venues, airports, and

even a national park are looking at CBRS: How do
I use CBRS to connect all my different
components in the IT network? How do I
integrate that with the customers or visitors who
come into my venue? How do I know who they
are? How do I serve them better?
The CBRS potential is immense. The question is

whether the ecosystem will work together to
harvest that potential.
need connectivity. It serves a different purpose and it gives them some real data. How does your
Monica: In a sports or hospitality venue, the
than you and I taking videos and uploading them athlete take the curve?
venue wants to know and help the visitors. What’s
to Facebook.
the role of mobile operators in venue-based CBRS Another example is the work we did with Rakuten
networks? In the sports venue case, what we are looking at is in their soft launch. There were two NBA teams,
how do I get instantaneous 4K or 8K videos for the Rockets and the Toronto Raptors, playing
Caroline: The mobile operator definitely has a
the coach staff? The coaching staff can use AI to together. In an NBA game played in Japan, the
role, especially as CBRS licenses become available
help them coach the athletes better – Intel is broadcasters, the commentators need to have a
in the next phase. Private and public networks are
working on applications that do this. different feel. In this case, they pulled six video
very complementary. The mobile operator needs
streams from the field and eight streams from the
to come in and provide connectivity for For example, in the Olympics, we worked with commentators during a live game. Some
consumers who walk into the venue. some of our partners on a program called 3DAT commentators speak a different language. Some
(3D Athlete Tracking) that looks at a skater’s are professionals from the NBA. Some speak from
If you look at a sports venue concept, think about
different angles as he or she takes a curve. This a different angle.
the team, the venue owners, the retail in the
helps the coaches who, today, use only their eyes,
venue, and the broadcasters in the venue: they all

For instance, as a Cowboys fan, I like to listen to a How do you see CBRS relating to private telling us, understand what they need, and
Cowboys-focused commentator rather than a enterprise networks in other countries? internalize that this is what we need to provide.
generic NFL commentator. This makes my fan
experience very personalized. I’m giving you a Caroline: Just last week I was in China attending I have spent many years in wireless. We just used
very rudimentary example. If you have the ability the largest local telecom expo. I showed one or to have one customer type, which is the operator.
to mix and match videos from different sources two slides on CBRS and got a lot of questions We did not need to listen to anybody else. And,
and apply some intelligence to it, you can make after that from the customers and from the press. the operator business is very much
the video very audience targeted. With CBRS, the US is one of the early adopters of consumer-driven. Now we have a B2B model.
what I call private enterprise networks – networks Eventually we will have a B2B2C model.
A 15-year-old fan and a 60-year-old, long-time that focus on the business rather than the
NBA fan watching the same game might speak a consumer side. There is a lot of interest in this As the value chain gets more complex, I find
different language. They might want to listen to type of network. myself – like you do – talking to a lot of
different commentaries, or even view different companies I didn’t used to talk to. It’s highly
angles of the game. When we talk about 5G, the mindset has to be: interesting for me. It is about deciphering what
“Oh, this is really about transforming the they said into what we need to provide from a
We provide the tools and let the business enterprise business verticals, about the digital software and hardware perspective.
innovate on these data and make that experience transformation.” The learnings from CBRS may be
more interesting to the fans. That’s just the useful in other countries. In Germany, spectrum Monica: Let me ask you a final question. In terms
beginning of the discovery. for private enterprise networks is being made of what you learn listening to the enterprise, what
available. We know that Ofcom in the UK is are the priorities moving forward? Where do we
Now look into CBRS. Mobile operators can bring discussing how this can be done. Sweden, I think, need to work hardest from the wireless and
in a portion of CBRS PAL or other licensed has already been doing it. telecom industry to help the enterprise, to enable
spectrum. Add to it the GAA shared-spectrum them to do what they need to do?
opportunity of more than 70 MHz. This channel When I go to Asian countries, China included,
provides ample scope to smoothly support these there’s a lot of talk about the need to transform Caroline: I think there are a few priorities. Top on
venue-based broadband applications. the industry. China has an initiative called China my list is to make the network operate like a
Manufacturing 2025 that explores the types of cloud. Access as a service, infrastructure as a
Monica: From the wireless ecosystem, we need to private networks that can be made available. service, platform as a service, and maybe even
talk with the enterprise and listen to what they function as a service.
need, so we can provide the tools for them to go Regulation obviously will be different, but the
ahead and innovate. concept of enabling a private, enterprise-focused Think about what IT does today. If IT teams need
network is not far from people’s minds. There are compute, they will go to Amazon’s AWS. They pay
In the US, CBRS has started this process. There a lot of discussions proceeding at different for what they need. They don’t need to pay for
has been a lot of discussion, communication and speeds, among different groups. everything. If we can make the private network as
cooperation – I don’t remember seeing that a few operationally automated as possible, make it
years ago. It’s clearly part of a bigger picture. It’s For us in the US, we have quite a few CBRS simple, I think we’ll see a lot more of these
not just the US. It is not just CBRS. There is a lot commercial deployments. Let’s document our networks popping up.
more going on in other countries. learnings. Let’s really listen. Internally at Intel, we
call this big ears and little mouth: listen and say
little. We need to consume what the CIOs are

The second thing will be security. You can’t have a Because these things drive innovation, we are business for a long time. When you go to a trade
network that’s not secure, that doesn’t protect the actively working on accelerators, working with show, you tend to see the same people over and
enterprise’s data from the enterprise. some of the venture capital funds to bring new over. We’ve got to bring new software developers
software developers into the space. into this – people who write for the enterprise,
The other thing that Intel’s doing is to support the think to write for CBRS, and write for 5G networks.
ecosystem. We need to enable the ecosystem and For many years, wireless was limited to a very
expand it beyond the players that we know of. small ecosystem. You and I have been in this

About Intel
Intel expands the boundaries of technology to make the most amazing experiences possible. Information about Intel can
be found at newsroom.intel.com and intel.com. Intel and the Intel logo are trademarks of Intel Corporation in the United
States and other countries. *Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.
About Caroline Chan

Caroline Y. Chan is VP and GM, Network Business Incubation Division in the Data Center Group, at Intel Corporation. She
has overall responsibility for Intel’s global network infrastructure strategy and solution development related to 5th-
generation wireless technology. Chan and her team identify and develop use cases that incorporate the Internet of Things,
innovation in wireless technologies and deployment models, such as mobile edge computing and alternative spectrums
that will enable new service providers and enterprise networks.

FCC | How did the FCC take CBRS off the ground?
A conversation between Michael O’Rielly, Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission, and Monica
Paolini, Principal, Senza Fili
The CBRS regulatory platform is highly frequency at 3.55 to 3.7 GHz. There is such a need and then licenses will be available next year
innovative and can be a blueprint for other in the United States for spectrum in the mid-band through auction.
multi-tier, shared-access models that can be range, so it’s going to be exciting to see what
used in other bands and in other countries. innovators use it for, what they take and turn this Monica: CBRS is also an important blueprint
With CBRS, incumbent users and multiple into. moving forward. You’re showing it’s possible to
licensed and unlicensed users share the work with the incumbents in bands that they need
3.5 GHz band. CBRS encourages a more We’ve done our work at the FCC, and now we’re to have access to, but do not use heavily.
efficient way to use – and reuse – spectrum, as excited to see what happens in the marketplace.
Michael: It’s the first time, at such a large scale,
well as new business models for both service Monica: The work of the FCC was remarkable, that we’re going to make shared spectrum
providers and enterprises. because you were able to bring all the incumbent available. I think it’s a blueprint for other bands
In this conversation, FCC Commissioner users into the fold and get them to work where we cannot clear. Clearing, to me, is still a
Michael O’Rielly tells us about how the FCC together. Was there much work to convince them priority. We need cleared bands, and we’re going
settled on the three-tier access structure, and that CBRS would not hinder their rights to access to push to have cleared bands.
the impact it will have on the US market and to the band?
In those instances where you cannot clear, the
on spectrum regulation. Michael: Oh, absolutely. The process was long CBRS model may work very well. A couple bands
Monica Paolini: Mike, it’s a pleasure to talk to and tortuous. A lot of credit is due to people that come to mind. Congress has teed up new
you now, with the commercial launch of CBRS, worked on this long before I got to the project, so legislation on this in 3.1 to 3.55 GHz, and in the
which you have personally worked on so much at I thank them for their work. Then I picked up the 6 GHz and 7 GHz bands, where we probably can’t
the FCC. Can you tell us what’s great about CBRS ball and ran with it on a number of different clear completely, and where a CBRS model may
from the regulatory point of view? pieces. work.
Michael O’Rielly: CBRS, from my perspective, is a We finally came to resolution. In the last year and 37 GHz may be a place, as well, where this model
wonderful opportunity to make use of a band that a half, we’ve been working to figure out and solve may work. It’s not only just domestically: we know
had some difficulties. We have existing the size of the PAL licenses, for the priority a number of other countries have been looking at
incumbents that we couldn’t move. The solution licensed access, how big they should be in terms this and are considering adoption.
we came up with is a three-tier structure, which of geographic size. We got everybody on board,
or most everyone on board, with a resolution. Monica: This is cutting-edge regulation, and
allows three entities – the incumbents and there is a lot of interest from all the regulators I’m
licensed and unlicensed users – to operate in the At the end of the day, almost everyone’s talking to, but it’s still unclear how they will move
same frequency. comfortable with where we are. Now it’s in the forward.
That’s exciting. We’re able to make use of a band hands of the vendors and the operators to see
where it can go. We have now turned on the GAA, Michael: CBRS is more than a large-scale trial. We
that we couldn’t use before. It is a mid-band know it works. We’ve done all the testing. We’re

now in the initial commercial deployment, or ICD, There’s also a time function. Incumbent users are We’re also looking at what we call, for lack of a
stage, but that is just in the short term. We’re not operating all the time. That’s why you have better word, package bidding.
going to be fully operational in a matter of weeks, the ESCs, recognizing that the Navy radars are not
and we’re excited about that. going to be operating all the time. That’s the We plan to make a bidding tool available which is
benefit of technology. separate from the license size. We’re not
We know the ESCs are functional. We know the changing the license sizes; we’re keeping them at
SASs are functional. ICDs will just give us more While in the past we may have had to cordon off the county level. But with the bidding tool, people
data. And, over time, data will help us reduce a zone forever, now we can use technology to may bid on multiple counties at once. This was
some of the limitations we’ve put on the band. permit access to spectrum when the incumbent is part of the package and the resolution that got all
not using it. the different entities on board.
We hope to increase power and remove some of
the technical limitations, among other things, to Monica: This is important, because obviously, I’m pretty happy to have an auction next year,
add new benefits going forward. incumbent users have a legitimate and important and we’ll just see where it goes. After our auction
use for the band. procedures are adopted and the auction is run,
Monica: Through the years, we’ve gotten more we’re going to be in the process of considering all
comfortable with how CBRS works and now we Michael: Oh, very much so. the applications. We will go through a long-form
have a fully defined regulatory platform. application review, and then, hopefully, the
Monica: You need to be able to protect it. It’s
licenses will be granted late next year, and people
For instance, at the beginning, the extension great that everybody has the confidence that it’s
can go forth and conquer.
zones were much bigger, and you have been able going to work.
to shrink them. Some still think you can use CBRS Monica: We don’t know exactly how CBRS – and
only in limited areas in the US and not at all along Let’s move to PALs. There was a recent
specifically PAL access – is going to work out, but
the East and West coasts, but it’s not quite like announcement from the FCC on the license
what we do know is that there’s going to be a
that. auction.
secondary market as well. How widely do you
Michael: We finally have a date for the auction: expect it to be used? It could be highly beneficial
Michael: That’s right. We worked really hard on
June 25, 2020. We’re excited about the auction. I for private LTE networks that use CBRS. For
the definition of these zones. When I started
worked really hard to make the licenses enterprises, a county-level license is too big, but
working on this project in 2013–2014, it was very
functional, to make them work for everybody. The they may be interested in leasing access rights in
telling. We considered an item, based on
previous structure was to use census tracts for a restricted area.
Chairman Wheeler’s proposed structure. I put up
the map of where the zones were going to be and license areas. They are too small and would have
Michael: The beauty of our CBRS structure is that
what they looked like. It just happened that they excluded a number of players who rightfully
there is 70 MHz potentially for licenses, but also
covered all the coasts. He and I, along with the thought it would be possible to use this band for
at least 80 MHz in most markets in GAA. In the
rest of our colleagues, quickly realized that wasn’t larger 5G networks.
markets where 70 MHz is not being used for
sustainable. licenses, because CBRS is not popular or for
There were a lot of naysayers out there saying:
“You would never do 5G in this band. It’s just not whatever other reason, that 70 MHz is available
We went back and worked really hard. The staff
the right structure.” It turns out we’re going to do for GAA. There you could have big, wide swaths of
worked really hard to get DoD on board, and
5G, and by the end of the year, we’re likely to unlicensed-like spectrum.
those zones shrunk incredibly. It is going to be
extensive. There are places, such as military have a 5G standard for these frequencies.
I suspect that the seven licenses at 10 MHz apiece
installations, where CBRS will not be operational. – for a total of 70 MHz – are going to be
I’m excited about that. The compromise reached
But most of the country will be open for business. was counties: licenses will be based on counties. incredibly popular. When I hear from providers,

whether they offer private LTE, an IoT service, or Monica: What do you see as the role of the Philip Marnick, Ofcom’s Group Director of
whatever they want to use it for, they are competition among SAS and ESC operators to be Spectrum Policy, was in Washington DC this week
contemplating using not only the GAA spectrum, in encouraging CBRS adoption? to discuss this at a conference. I’m open to and
but also the PALs. am excited to see what happens from their
Michael: I really don’t know. Two key things are service.
Also, they may combine CBRS with spectrum that finally having the ESCs and the SAS operators up
they may win in the C Band, if we get that and running. Do I think the SAS marketplace is But I have a healthy skepticism towards the new
operational, and other nearby frequencies, going to change? Absolutely. I think we could see approach proposed in the UK. I don’t know that it
providing larger channels to offer service and more come in and some leave. How many can the would work in an environment so diverse as the
multiple paths to obtain spectrum to offer such market handle? United States. I just don’t know. Ofcom talks
services. about having licenses on a per-building basis, and
Monica: How important do you think the role of I just don’t know that that would be something
They talk about 5G. You need 100 MHz channels, the enterprise will be in the success and that would work.
or 100 MHz spectrum. I think we want to give deployment of CBRS?
them that opportunity. This could be a piece of Even at the beginning, the initial CBRS proposal
that. Michael: In terms of enterprise, I couldn’t tell you for PAL licenses was based on census tracts, which
today who’s going to use it for what. I honestly was not a building-by-building structure. I think a
Monica: That’s important to support 5G rollouts don’t know, but I’m excited to see what will per-building licensing model may lead to either
in the CBRS band. But back to GAA, my happen. It could turn into all 5G or private LTE, or harmful interference to some entities, or to a
understanding is that you’re not mandating any maybe enterprises will mostly turn to GAA, or not. band that’s underutilized.
way in which there is coexistence among GAA The market’s going to have to take this where it
users. Coexistence mechanisms are defined for wants to go. I worry about that, especially in a prime band,
unlicensed bands, but not for CBRS GAA. Why did when I know that wireless providers are going to
you decide not to mandate a specific coexistence Monica: CBRS uses a regulatory framework that is need more 5G spectrum than they have been
mechanism for CBRS? specifically tailored to the US market – and in fact allocated. But I think it’s an interesting
to the 3.5 GHz band in the US. But there is much experiment, and I’m interested to see what it
Michael: This is through a lot of conversation and going on internationally on new approaches to turns out to be.
a lot of consideration to find our landing spot. We spectrum sharing to improve spectrum utilization.
describe GAA as unlicensed-like. There’s no listen- Monica: It seems that the multi-tiered CBRS
before-talk like Wi-Fi, but there are different In the UK, for instance, they are discussing a structure would be absolutely perfect for
things that we’ve adopted to get CBRS to work. regulatory framework with small license areas of millimeter wave, because the propagation is so
They’re a little different, but we’re excited about variable size, which are better suited for rural and different, so that you can have indoor and
them. low-density area coverage and for enterprise and outdoor networks in the same area, with different
venue-based private networks. Clearly, traditional users.
We’ve worked with all the interested parties, and licensed bands are still needed for wide-area
they’re excited about them. I really think this will mobility. Michael: In some instances, yes. I think you could
be well-received in the marketplace. Devices are see a scenario in the 37 GHz band and maybe
generally ready for operation, to get into Michael: The CBRS model that we have been others, where you could see something like this
consumers’ hands. building and have adopted can be something being part of that equation. We certainly have to
other countries can look to. I know the work they protect DoD and existing incumbents that we’ve
are doing in the UK, and I had a chance to visit allowed to stay in particular bands.
over the summer and talk to their folks.

In many millimeter-wave bands, we do not need Monica: What about the 6 GHz band? Monica: What about the incumbents in the 6 GHz
to use a CBRS model because we do not have band?
incumbents to protect. We’re clearing those Michael: Yeah, 6 GHz is something that we’re
bands and licensing them off. I don’t know that working aggressively on. We have to. We need to Michael: We will protect them. We’re very
you need a CBRS model. make some decisions on the parameters to be mindful of the utilities, public safety, some of the
used for indoor and outdoor access. I think we wireless providers that are there doing backhaul.
Monica: The secondary market can be used to don’t need an automatic frequency coordinator The unlicensed service offerings are low-power,
allow multi-tier access in a licensed band, right? for indoor use. I want to make sure we have a and they can fit in the 6 GHz band nicely without
fulsome plate of unlicensed services in 6 GHz. causing interference to those providers.
Michael: The secondary market supports We’ll just have to work through some of those
disaggregation and different mechanisms to details.
share the different pieces, yes.

Glossary
3DAT 3D Athlete Tracking ICD Initial Commercial Deployment NR New Radio

3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics NTIA National Telecommunications and
AGV Automated guided vehicle Engineers Information Administration
API Application programming interface IIoT Industrial IoT O&M Operations and maintenance
B2B Business to business IoT Internet of things OEM Original equipment manufacturer
B2B2C Business to business to customer IPsec Internet Protocol Security O-RAN Open Radio Access Network
BYOD Bring your own device ITU International Telecommunication OTT Over the top
Cat 4, 6 Category 4, 6 [cable] Union PAL Priority Access License
CBRS Citizen Broadband Radio Services KPI Key performance indicator PBX Private branch exchange
CBSD Citizen Broadband radio Service LAA Licensed-Assisted Access PLTE Private LTE
Device LAN Local area network QoS Quality of service
CPE Customer premise equipment LCC Leadless chip carrier RAN Radio access network
CPI Certified professional installer LTE Long Term Evolution RAT Ratio access technology
CSP Communication Service Provider M2M Machine to machine RF Radio frequency
DAS Distributed antenna system MAC Media Access Control [layer] SAS Spectrum Access System
DoD Department of Defense MDU Multi-dwelling unit SD-WAN Software-defined wide-area network
DPA Dynamic Protected Area MEC Multi-access Edge Computing SIM Subscriber identity module
EMS Element Management System MIMO Multiple-input multiple-output SLA Service level agreement
EPC Evolved Packet Core MME Mobility Management Entity STA Special Temporary Authority
eSIM Embedded SIM M-MIMO Massive MIMO TCO Total cost of ownership
EUD End-user device MNO Mobile network operator TDD Time-division duplex
FCC Federal Communications Commission MOCN Multi-operator core networks UE User equipment
FWA Fixed wireless access MORAN Multi Operator Radio Access Network USIM Universal SIM
GAA General Authorized Access MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching vRAN Virtual RAN
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and MSO Multiple system operator WAN Wide-area network
Accountability Act MVNO Mobile virtual network operator WInnForum Wireless Innovation Forum
HVAC Heating, ventilation, and air NBID New Business Incubation Division WISP Wireless internet service provider
conditioning NOC Network operations center

References
[1] Acronyms and Definitions Pertaining to Commercial Operations in the U.S. 3550-3700 MHz Band, Wireless Innovation Forum.
[2] Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) White Paper, HTNG, 2018.
[3] IEEE 802.19.1-2018 - IEEE Standard for Information technology – Telecommunications and information exchange between systems – Local and metropolitan
area networks – Specific requirements – Part 19: Wireless Network Coexistence Methods, IEEE Standard Association, 2018.
[4] Marshall, Preston, Three-Tier Shared Spectrum, Shared Infrastructure, and a Path to 5G, Cambridge University Press, 2017.
[5] Paolini, Monica, CBRS: Should the enterprise and venue owners care? Senza Fili, 2019
[6] Paolini, Monica, Getting edgy. Optimizing performance and user experience with edge computing, Senza Fili, 2018.
[7] Paolini, Monica, Power at the edge. Processing and storage move from the central core to the network edge, Senza Fili, 2017.
[8] Paolini, Monica, The total cost of ownership (TCO) for fixed OnGo in the 3.5 GHz CBRS band, Senza Fili, 2018.
[9] Paolini, Monica, Wireless in the enterprise. A deep reach, a more active role for venue owners, Senza Fili, 2017.
[10] Promoting Investment in the 3550-3700 MHz Band, FCC, 2018.

About Senza Fili

Senza Fili provides advisory support on wireless technologies and services. At Senza Fili we have in-depth expertise in financial
modeling, market forecasts and research, strategy, business plan support, and due diligence. Our client base is international and
spans the entire value chain: clients include wireline, fixed wireless, and mobile operators, enterprises and other vertical players,
vendors, system integrators, investors, regulators, and industry associations. We provide a bridge between technologies and
services, helping our clients assess established and emerging technologies, use these technologies to support new or existing
services, and build solid, profitable business models. Independent advice, a strong quantitative orientation, and an international
perspective are the hallmarks of our work. For additional information, visit www.senzafiliconsulting.com, or contact us at
info@senzafiliconsulting.com.
About Monica Paolini

Monica Paolini, PhD, founded Senza Fili in 2003. She is an expert in wireless technologies, and has helped clients worldwide to
understand technology and customer requirements, evaluate business plan opportunities, market their services and products, and
estimate the market size and revenue opportunity of new and established wireless technologies. She frequently gives presentations
at conferences, and she has written many reports and articles on wireless technologies and services. She has a PhD in cognitive
science from the University of California, San Diego (US), an MBA from the University of Oxford (UK), and a BA/MA in philosophy
from the University of Bologna (Italy). You can contact Monica at monica.paolini@senzafiliconsulting.com.
© 2019 Senza Fili. All rights reserved. The views and statements expressed in this report are those of Senza Fili, and they should not be inferred to reflect the position of the
sponsors or other parties involved in the report. The document can be distributed only in its integral form and acknowledging the source. No selection of this material may be
copied, photocopied, or duplicated in any form or by any means, or redistributed without express written permission from Senza Fili. While the document is based on information
that we consider accurate and reliable, Senza Fili makes no warranty, express or implied, as to the accuracy of the information in this document. Senza Fili assumes no liability for
any damage or loss arising from reliance on this information. Trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. Cover page photo is by Celso
Diniz/Shutterstock; unless otherwise noted photos are from Shutterstock.

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Senza Fili | Deep Dive Report

The CBRS commercial launch

By Monica Paolini, Senza Fili

More from Senza Fili

• CBRS will boost small cells and infrastructure sharing in the US

© 2019 Senza Fili |2|

© 2019 Senza Fili |3|

1. CBRS launch: what does it mean?

CBRS means different things to different people in wireless, in the

To the analyst writing this report, CBRS is a bold attempt to radically

CBRS gives mobile operators an opportunistic, incremental option to

For cable operators, CBRS is a way to go beyond Wi-Fi and MVNO

© 2019 Senza Fili |4|

For the enterprise, CBRS may have a more transformational impact. It

© 2019 Senza Fili |5|

© 2019 Senza Fili |6|

What CBRS brings to the US wireless market

Increase spectrum utilization and efficiency through spectrum sharing

Combine advantages of licensed and unlicensed access

Combine public and private wireless infrastructure

Boost indoor coverage and small cells

© 2019 Senza Fili |7|

The CBRS timeline: the path to commercial deployments, PALs and 5G

2020 ▪ The FCC will hold PAL auctions in June 2020.

© 2019 Senza Fili |8|

© 2019 Senza Fili |9|

2. The CBRS ecosystem The OnGo certification program

© 2019 Senza Fili |10|

On the smartphone end, six devices operating in the CBRS

On the IoT front, Sequans Communications has released two

Cradlepoint has been very active in the CBRS space, and

Telit, a cellular module vendor and an IoT platform provider,

MultiTech’s first CBRS portfolio includes a cellular-to-

© 2019 Senza Fili |11|

Motorola offers a push-to-talk radio built specifically for 1 push-to-talk device by

2 CPEs, by Green Packet and

2 wireless hotspot modems by

5 modules by Billion Electric,

1 LTE Ethernet bridge by Multi-

6 embedded modules by Getac,

1 data card by Telit

© 2019 Senza Fili |12|

4. RAN: CBSDs Vendors with certified OnGo equipment

© 2019 Senza Fili |13|

© 2019 Senza Fili |14|

5. SAS and ESC providers

© 2019 Senza Fili |15|

6. Network management and wider ecosystem

▪ Companies like Mavenir, Radisys, Druid, Affirmed, Syniverse and Athonet

© 2019 Senza Fili |16|

reservations, providing customer and concierge services); and for IoT

▪ Facebook is developing an LTE EPC offering, called Magma, which includes a

Subscriber management and device connectivity is an area of increasing activity,

© 2019 Senza Fili |17|

▪ Contour Networks recently launched its USIM Universal Authentication

© 2019 Senza Fili |18|

conducted at the end of 2018 with Ruckus, Athonet and Federated.

▪ Qualcomm has been a strong supporter of CBRS, and its

▪ Intel is a member of WInnForum and is a founding member of the

© 2019 Senza Fili |19|

7. Neutral hosts and other service providers

© 2019 Senza Fili |20|

8. Mobile operators, cable operators, WISPs