CBRS at Work: Connecting Rural North Carolina

In 2015, the FCC voted to open the 3.5 GHz spectrum band, known as the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), for both licensed and unlicensed use. Ever since, CBRS has facilitated innovation and been a powerful tool in delivering clever connectivity solutions. By opening the band to shared use, regulators have been able to virtually "expand the pie" of available spectrum as the wireless ecosystem faces a spectrum crunch.

CBRS is a designated spectrum band open for shared use, allowing it to power private networks in military warehouses, stadiums, campuses, and airports and more. It does this while protecting important users already operating in the band, which always gets signal priority should the incumbent user, often the Department of Defense (DoD), be using the band nearby.

Using CBRS to connect rural communities

An example of how CBRS is being used to solve tricky connectivity issues comes from HarvestBeam, a rural broadband provider servicing eastern North Carolina.

HarvestBeam connects rural and spread-out communities across vast terrain via a fixed-wireless access (FWA) network, a solution that traditional broadband providers have used for years.

• Usually, FWA broadband is delivered by relaying wireless signals using unlicensed spectrum from tower to tower and finally to the premises, instead of through miles of wires.

The logistical dilemma

HarvestBeam sought to deliver broadband in a mostly rural area with scattered population centers, industry, and agriculture.

• A traditional fixed network is costly, requiring heavy upfront investment in time, resources, and labor to serve a relatively small number of homes and businesses.

The CBRS solution

HarvestBeam took traditional FWA a step further by taking advantage of CBRS and the tiered access system behind the band's shared spectrum approach.

• HarvestBeam uses Priority Access Licenses (PALs) to access the CBRS band.
• PALs are different from the General Authorized Access (GAA) license that many other CBRS deployments use because they give the user priority access to the shared band. If a PAL interferes with a GAA user, the PAL gets top access.
  • This is thanks to the tiered access system in the CBRS band, which uses a shared spectrum access model to offer these unique solutions.
• In practice, that means that HarvestBeam can ensure smooth fixed wireless broadband in places that might have more interference from other CBRS users, such as precision agriculture, which might be using GAA.

All of these benefits are delivered thanks to CBRS's shared use model, which continues to prove its value and utility time and time again. As the United States faces a spectrum crunch, shared solutions like CBRS offer a way to virtually expand the amount of spectrum available to an otherwise fixed, limited resource.

Visit NCTA.com to learn more about the critical role of thoughtful spectrum policy in broadband, especially Wi-Fi.