CBRS Ecosystem Continues to Grow

The Wireless Innovation Forum (WInnForum) a non-profit international industry association dedicated to driving the future of radio communications and systems worldwide, announced that Commscope, Federated Wireless, and Google have joined Nokia as approved as Certified Professional Installer (CPI) Training Program Administrators for the new Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band. As specified in WINNF-TS-0247, CPIs are responsible for assuring that the installation data entered into the Spectrum Access System (SAS) for certain types of CBRS devices is accurate and the device valid to be registered and request a spectrum grant to operate. Through this program, 20 plus professional installers have already been certified.

“Certification of professional installers is a critical element for the upcoming Initial Commercial Deployment,” said Richard Bernhardt, of WISPA and chair of the CBRS Operations Working Group within the Forum. “Establishment of the certification program is one of the final steps toward full launch of the CBRS band.”

What is CBRS?

Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is a 150 MHz wide broadcast band of the 3.5 GHz band (3550 MHz to 3700 MHz). Some of this spectrum will continue to be used by the United States government for radar systems, but will be available for others where not needed by the Navy. In 2017, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) completed a process begun in 2012 to establish rules for commercial use of this band.

Wireless carriers using CBRS might be able to deploy 5G mobile networks without having to acquire spectrum licenses.

The publication 'Network World' has noted that it is "quite likely that the band will be used for 5G, and that might synch nicely with services offered in other countries that are actually targeting the band for 5G services". 

Companies involved in CBRS:

• Nokia
• Motorola Solutions
• Alphabet
• AT&T
• Druid Software
• Charter Communications,
• Cisco Systems
• Comcast
• Ericsson
• Intel
• Qualcomm
• Sprint Corporation
• Verizon Wireless.