Did anyone notice that the latest iPhone did not have 600MHz in it that T-Mobile is rolling out? What is that about. It doesn’t have the CBRS spectrum in it either! WHAT?
The iPhone X is an eXample of what not to do! It’s a failed eXperiment! It’s a loser at any X games. It’s an eXtreme eXample of a throwback device! If they wanted a throwback, they should have made it the X flip phone, like the devices Nextel had. Xtreme Fail! Xtreme disappointment!
Why would they not put in the latest spectrum? Now that they released this they already have a gaping hole in the device! Oh sure, it has facial recognition, when it works, great.
What’s missing?
T-Mobile is looking to be in band 71, 600MHz, but there is no device to support it.
The CBRS is 3.5GHz, and that’s band 48.
No LAA availability for LTE!
Why does this matter?
Because the future of LTE will rely on new spectrum to get the speeds they need to deliver the 5G broadband that we expect. They matter because LTE will rely on LAA and HPUE and gigabit capability to get the broadband that people want and need. It is how we expect to get more form our devices, T-Mobile isn’t building out 600MHz just so they can stare at the shiny new radio heads and antennas! They want to deliver the best bandwidth they can to their customers. They want to maximize every site so that the end-user, the customer, YOU, are satisfied with your device.
Listen, if you’re looking at advancing the bandwidth to your device, then look at the device! Apple just showed that their primary motivation is the facial recognition and apps, so that get you addicted to the device itself! But without the bandwidth to serve you, what good is it? You need spectrum. You need the support system to get spectrum. The carriers are doing all that they can to get that bandwidth maximized to your device, wouldn’t it be nice if Apple would reciprocate? They need to get their crap together and remember that they are a technology company first and foremost. All I can ask is, “is that what Steve Jobs would have done?” Would he have put the technology on a back burner just to release a new device? I think we all know the answer to that.
Let’s see what Samsung will do. This is their big chance to jump ahead and show us what they can do. Maybe Google will release something great when they take over HTC. Google has a large investment in CBRS, at least in time. They may push it harder than anyone.
To me, Apple is putting all its eggs in the Wi-Fi basket. Maybe that is their way to keep the connection alive. Maybe they could care less about the new spectrum coming out or the coverage that the carriers are trying to build. Maybe Apple could care less about T-Mobile’s sales of their devices. I don’t know.
To be honest, I was an Apple fan, but now I see them changing into a typical supplier, worried about moving units on the short-term flash and less about building something that has longevity and evolution capability.
I was disappointed, but hey, I am a tech guy, Apple no longer wants to appeal to us anymore, at least that is how I am reading this. All I can say is “LET DOWN!”
Tower Safety and Instruction has online training and eBooks at http://teltech-college.com/ where you can get drone, tower, safety, 5G, and deployment material on your laptop! TSI, making the best better.
The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need!
Are you trying to find out more about 5G in the real world? It’s so new, and yet there aren’t many books out there about 5G systems, just theory. After all, it will follow many principles of current networks. We’re all trying to get a better grasp on 5G systems. So why not get a little help. Some of the most popular blogs on my site are about 5G. So, I put together this helpful book for you! Learning 5G in the Real World is now available.
As you know, 5G demo systems are rolling out and being tested. It appears that 5G is already a reality and that the systems will start rolling out before the 2020 time frame we all expected. Why not learn what you can now? You deserve to know what’s going on in the industry and how that change will affect what you do. The deployment of 5G systems will involve more densification.
You can be a part of the 5G evolution.
It’s time you get introduced to 5G and the smart technology that you have heard about. You need to get answers. You need to start somewhere, so start here.
There is much to learn, so here is your outline of what is in this book. This is just a taste.
What is 5G?
Will 5G replace LTE?
What Applications will 5G have?
Why the need for 5G Low Latency?
Why Narrow Bandwidth systems in 5G?
5G Network Slicing
4G and 5G Spectrum and Technologies
TDD and FDD Formats
Fiber connections
Microwave Connections
What is LTE UE backhaul?
LTE MIMO Deployment Notes
The 4G and 5G HetNet
What will 5G networks look like?
What is the 5G System Plan?
How does MIMO work?
Deploying 5G Small Cells
What are SDN and NFV?
What about Wi-Fi?
Fixed Wireless is a Focal Point of 5G
Spectrum for 5G FWA
Private LTE Networks
What is the CBRS?
You want to learn more about 5G, and how it will be deployed, what it is, and how they will reach high speeds, low latency, and how the low-speed networks will all play together through network slicing, this is a good place to start.
If you want to learn more, then take action today. Here are your options to get this today. It is easy to get and very reasonably priced. The rest is up to you!
You’re eager to learn more! You want to get a head start and see how you can fit into this new technology evolution! Here is a good start. We can all get a little bit better through learning something new.
For those of you who don’t understand the title, Bigbelly is a solution for smart cities and smart campuses. It started as a waste management solution for cities and has grown into so much more. I was attracted to Bigbelly because of the way they took the common trash can and made it a critical part of smart city infrastructure. Are you wondering how this company has revolutionized waste management for municipalities? Then listen to the podcast and read on.
I was fortunate enough to have Leila Dillon and Joe Ryan of Bigbelly on the show and ask them how the company evolved. While the smart city seems like a revolution, it is because of companies like Bigbelly that it’s become an evolution of what was once possible to what is not possible.
I became aware of Bigbelly when reading about street furniture for small cells. You may not know this, but the Bigbelly solution started as a common trash can that had value add capabilities like trash compactors that were powered by solar panels. It has grown from a garbage can to something that can compact trash to hold more than 5 times what a normal trash can could hold. But wait…… there’s more!
How did they become an essential part of the smart city evolution? They have taken the trash can and made it a valuable part of the smart city ecosystem. Wondering how? They had the solar panels and the trash compactors which is one way. Then they evolved it into the IOT realm and monitored the trash levels in the cans so that the city knew when to empty them, keeping the streets clean and not going to that trash can any sooner than they had to. This saves time and money and allows the trash cans to be emptied before they overflow keep the street clean and beautiful.
The Smart City Tech Planning Handbook, available at:
How did they evolve into a small cell solution? Well, when they found out they could do all of the above, then they evolved again. This company is run by smart and innovative people. They added room for a small cell, offered advertising on the sides and could even put digital signage on the boxes. They are cool!
Tower Safety and Instruction has online training and eBooks at http://teltech-college.com/where you can get drone, tower, safety, 5G, and deployment material on your laptop! TSI, making the best better.
That’s where Leila and Joe come in. Leila is the VP of North American Distribution and Global Marketing, and Joe Ryan is the VP of Advanced Technology. Both were very pleasant to talk to, and I learned so much about how Bigbelly kept innovating its business, products, and solutions into a critical part of the smart city solution. In fact, I would add that it’s an important element of the infrastructure and should be considered when laying the groundwork for city improvements. Any new smart city planning should include this solution.
I reached out to Leila because I was so interested in new ways to deploy small cells in the city. When I reached out to Joe and Leila, I learned that Bigbelly offers so many solutions for so many departments in a city.
Joe went into detail about how the Bigbelly solution has been evolving. They can not only monitor all their units, but they offer a solution to waste management for real time monitoring as well as holding 5 times the trash than a normal waste solution. It expanded to adding value add solutions like hosting a small cell. This is a great piece of furniture for the smart city.
It’s piece of street furniture that is a waste management solution as well as a host of Wi-Fi, beacon products, sensor products, and even small cells.
How does it handle the waste?
It’s a trash solution that offers a compactor feature to hold 5 times the trash of a normally sized waste solution.
How does it add to the smart city solution?
Lots of ways! It will offer real time monitoring of waste in each
It has a solar option that will power the unit without adding power.
It offers a host for small cells, Wi-Fi, beacons, and sensors.
It has a GPS solution so that you know each unit’s location.
Where is the value?
It’s more than just a piece of street furniture. They are in areas where the people are, the foot traffic, any public area. This is always going to be where the people are, and the people will want more, like Wi-Fi, they need that as well.
The real-time monitoring of data around waste offers a solution to track what is happening in that part of the city. It’s another data analytics solution so that you can optimize the efficiency of trash collection.
How is it a smart city solution?
It plays into the infrastructure that is needed for a smart city not only in waste and data around waste but the shelter for getting broadband to where the people are, and it looks good all at the same time. Attractive and valuable for any smart city.
Can they add anything else to this solution?
Of course, location beacons, small cell solutions, and as new technology comes out, we have a place to put it where the people are.
What about zoning and permitting?
It helps to streamline the permitting process because this is something that the city puts in, the city wants this, and the city wants to get as much out of this as possible.
Understand that the city is paying for this solution, they want It’s not like the carriers who are fighting to deploy small cells, the city may or may not want the carriers to mount them around the city. Cities need waste management, and they want to use this as a solution for more than just waste.
Of course, over 40,000 are deployed! The chances are good that you have used one if you ever spent time in a city or university.
How would this benefit a smart campus?
The school can use the data collected to study and research what is happening right there on their campus. It’s a great solution where they could add IOT immediately to collect the data in real time. It creates a learning solution for colleges.
Want to learn more? Go to www.bigbelly.com or reach out to jryan@bigbelly.com and tell them you want to learn more and that you heard about them here.
I enjoy hearing smart people talk, and this is one of those interviews where I could sit back and learn so much about how creative people think and where they take their ideas. This company is a lesson in evolution. Taking waste management, which every city needs, to a point where they can compact trash to fit 5 times the amount of garbage in one box, then make it solar-powered Then add in Wi-Fi. Then collect the data using the backhaul and uploading to the cloud using an IOT solution, then adding in small cells and more radios as well as offering to advertise on the box itself. WOW! What’s next? I would not be surprised if they had plans to build a teleporter to add to the box so they can remove the garbage remotely. I know it’s not real, but I would bet they are already thinking about how to add it if it were.
Leila Dillon is the VP of Global Marketing and North America Distribution for Bigbelly and has been since 2014. She does a great job explaining how Bigbelly can help the cities go beyond waste removal to collect data analytics and provide solutions that go beyond waste into small cell and Wi-Fi and advertising to provide the city with revenue streams. The street furniture is more than a solution for the city but a solution for all the residents and companies that want to do business with the city as well.
Joe Ryan is the VP of Advanced Technology for Bigbelly. He’s been there since 2015. He has found ways to house high-tech solutions and to use IOT as a conduit for the data analytics that Bigbelly can provide with its waste management solutions. Joe is a brilliant guy that provided cloud solutions for the data and included Wi-Fi in their solutions. It only makes sense because the Bigbelly are where the people are and today people want Wi-Fi everywhere.
Bigbelly was found in 2003 with the intent to transform the waste collection industry into something efficient for cities. Their mission statement is at http://bigbelly.com/about/, and they understand that smart city solutions are critical for every aspect of the city, not just the IOT department. They know that IOT solutions should be included. They know that evolution of their industry is critical for the smart city. So, to quote their site, “Today, we are a multi-purpose platform for building smarter cities. We are uniquely positioned as a public right-of-way platform that delivers Smart City solutions and hosts communications infrastructure. The Bigbelly solution is deployed in communities, campuses, and organizations in over 50 countries. We transform operations, drive efficiencies, increase productivity, and improve quality of life.” Really, what more do you need to know?
I hope you learned that we need to think outside of the box. The Smart City evolution is happening in more ways than anyone imagined, opening up new possibilities to improve our lives. I think it’s great!
The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need!
Book release alert for the Smart City Tech Planning Handbook. It is out! The Smart City Tech Planning handbook which will give you case studies, technical avenues for smart cities, and ways to deploy! Yes, it’s a guide to get you started.
The pain point is most groups working on a smart city, or a smart campus project doesn’t know where to begin. They often struggle just figuring out what is possible. I noticed that every city has a different definition of what they want for a smart city then they have no idea how to get there. They don’t know what has been done, really been done, and they don’t know how to get started.
Many cities fall prey to the large OEMs because they come in and offer a specific solution which the city may or may not want. So they go with it, or they run demos thinking that this is something that the people want. The people generally tell you what they want, if you’re listening. Don’t forget small business and large business for that matter, what do they really want to do business in your city? How do you get there? What has been done? I’m here to help!
Figure out your foundation, your assets, how to monetize and what you can use for your foundation, it could really help you now by knowing and planning, not guessing or assuming. Let’s work together!
This book is here for you to plan your path to deploying technology in your city for your purpose. Not only that but what assets do you have that you can use or even better yet, make money on. Wouldn’t it be nice if the city could find a way to create revenue streams off what they have? Remember that you don’t need to be tied to a large company to make money from your assets. In fact, do you even know what your assets are? You should figure it out ASAP! Again, this book will help you figure that out, and it will guide you to getting the help that won’t take you down a path you don’t want to do.
Showing you what has been done and what can be done. There is help for you. This is a guide to get started. It will help you see what’s been done and what’s possible. Let me help, take some time and learn all you can. Make informed decisions about how to deploy and learn from what’s been done. Understand why they did what they did. Understand how to get where you want to go.
I’ll explain more but here is how you can get it!
The Smart City Tech Planning Handbook, available at:
Here is an overview of the Smart City Tech Planning Handbook!
Your Smart City Planning Guide for broadband, IOT, and solutions in technology. A handbook for learning more about smart city use cases, technology, and roll out.
We want you to prepare and plan for your smart city with all the information needed to move ahead cost effectively to develop your vision. Your city may have more assets to make it smart and bring in revenue, do you know how to do that? Get some help from others who have done it. Look smart by planning for your smart city vision!
Are you working to create a smart city? Are you taking that step to add the technology need to build infrastructure for your smart city? Let me help. You can gain the knowledge to move ahead in this book to plan your deployment, your growth, your services. If you don’t’ want the book, then send me an email, I can help. This book is to help you get started.
Everyone thinks technology is just broadband, and this is a big part of today’s world, but the services need to be aligned with your smart city vision. How do you do this? Plan the vision around the technology and know what you have so you know how far you should go.
This is all covered, with case studies, plenty of links for you to reference and PDFs to download. It’s more than this book, it bigger than that, it’s providing you models and solutions.
Are you ready to build your smart city? Do you have the budget? The infrastructure? Why don’t you make sure? This book will help you and your teams!
Smart City Questions:
Do you know that the smart city is here now?
Most cities want to be a smart city, and they are looking for technology to save them. I once saw a TED talk where they described a smart city as being the way the buildings are built. Let me tell you something; the buildings are constructed in these cities. While it would be wonderful to plan a smart city from scratch, it’s not the reality of the cities out there. They intend to improve the existing city infrastructure, which is no easy task. That’s the purpose of this book, to help you work with cities and have them develop their smart city initiatives. Develop a plan!
Learn this!
What is a Smart City?
How do you plan the Smart City infrastructure?
Where do you start when developing the smart city?
What planning is involved?
Whom should I partner with?
What about permitting, rent, acquisition, construction planning?
Whom should we work with? Learn all this and more from case studies and deployment planning. The rest is up to you!
The Smart City Tech Planning Handbook is broken into 3 general sections.
It provides case studies to show you what has been done in other cities around the world as well as what larger OEMs envision can be done. This is to provide you with real world case studies as well as concepts to get your idea flowing for your city. It also shows you it can be done, it’s not pie in the sky but real solutions to real problems where technology provides the solutions!
We discuss the technology that is out there and available. It is a good idea for you to learn what is real and what is coming. In today’s world, the technology and spectrum can determine what can be done and what is 10 years out. Luckily, things move fast today. The only real limitation is getting past the limitations that people, and governments, impose not themselves.
What is the foundation of smart city technology? While the technology really matters, what good is it if you can’t roll it out. These things need to happen in steps or phases. Providing a foundation is key to your smart city dream becoming a reality. Use this as a guide to building it the way that you would like to see it.
Get it today!
The Smart City Tech Planning Handbook, available at:
Hi, I’m Wade. I write blogs and books. I work as a solution manager for a major OEM. I consult groups on smart city deployments. I help market and bring products to market. I create online products to help tech deployments. Let’s make great tech happen.
It can be summed up like this. Wade Sarver is a blogger and podcaster at www.wade4wireless.com and an author of several nonfiction tech books, a solutions consultant TechFecta, www.techfecta.com, as well as a solution manager for Nokia. To reach out to Wade, you can email at wade4wireless@gmail.com or wade@techfecta.com or twitter @Wade4Wireless.
Thank you for making it to the end! I appreciate your endurance, tenacity, and perseverance!
Building a smart city is not easy, nor is adding the infrastructure to create smart city features. It helps to work with partners who have done it before. That is why Deb Socia of Next Century Cities works hard every day to reach out and contact as many communities as possible. Collaboration is the key to getting smart city enhancements in your community. Next Century Cities has a mission to do just that, help all communities elevate through cooperation, or at least help guide them to add smart city services.
The Smart City Tech Planning Handbook, available at:
Did you have smart city questions? Did you ever wonder how the city gets the technology to improve local businesses? How does a “smart city” initiative get started? Where can cities go for help? How do they start the high-speed internet initiatives? Where can communities get help to start a tech initiative? What steps can be taken to become a smart city? What can a city do to improve health care, education, quality of life, access to broadband, and make technology affordable to the residents?
Deb talks about they are helping communities elevate from where they are now to initiating smart city policies so that they can improve technology. While for businesses it is a business initiative. Not so easy for cities. Cities need to get this by multiple departments, raise funds, pass policies, and get buy in from departments, businesses, partners, utilities, and constituents. No easy task. That is why this non-profit group works so hard to make sure they can find mentors and partners in this venture. In the long run, smart city policies are more about improving the city. Growing the jobs and improving the quality of life. It all goes hand in hand.
Deb’s group normally starts with local elected officials because they have the dream of improving their city. They are looking for help. They need someone they can trust for help. They cannot just go to the OEMs since they may be looking to sell a solution or push a solution that may not be the best option for the city. The key is to find what the city is what they need, want, and the residents want.
Tower Safety and Instruction has online training and eBooks athttp://teltech-college.com/where you can get drone, tower, safety, 5G, and deployment material on your laptop! TSI, making the best better.
To get to the next level of a smart city initiative, they may want to see how it’s been done in other cities. Here is where Next Century Cities comes in. Offering a sounding board and a group where one city can learn from another’s initiative. They could provide them a plan based on what’s been done. Maybe they could help them avoid problems. Teach them about the mistakes that other cities have made. Why not learn from what other communities have done? While policies may be different, the desired result may be the same. If they can accelerate the roll out process by initiating real and robust policies, why not?
You need to listen to get all the information. Let’s get a high level of the questions that may help you. Deb is a wonderful resource. Next Century Cities is there to support you. It’s a two-way street, help and be helpful, remember that. T could serve as a sounding board for new ideas. It feels good when you complete a project and let others know so they can learn.
Did you ever wonder how the city gets the technology to improve local businesses?
It takes planning.
What do they normally want? Broadband! While it varies from city to city, goals may differ. Most, if not all want broadband rolled out throughout the city for businesses and residents. Maybe even for tourists.
How does a “smart city” initiative get started?
It usually starts with the higher level of governments, the mayor or a CTO or economic development groups may want to improve the internet access to help local businesses grow.
Why recreate the wheel if it’s been done? Duplicate what others have done.
Where can cities go for help?
Next Century Cities has created a network where cities can turn to each other to learn from someone who has done it before. They have provided a platform to share ideas.
How do they start the high-speed internet initiatives?
They could start with business partnerships. Learning what has worked in other areas and what vendors have solutions. They could leverage their utility partners to help.
Building infrastructure to support city-wide broadband need planning and support.
Where can communities go to for help in starting a tech initiative?
It could be the OEMs, consultants, or fellow cities that have already done it.
Whom do you trust the most? If another city has done it, then you have a model.
Next Century Cities is a great place to start.
What steps can be taken to become a smart city?
Not an easy question, first, define what smart city means to you and your community, then develop a plan for policies and technical requirements. The foundation is the key, then build on it.
What can a city do to improve health care, education, quality of life, access to broadband, and make technology affordable to the residents?
Roll out broadband, build the infrastructure, create policies that enable this to happen quickly and efficiently.
Who can join Next Century Cities?
Communities, cities, counties, any government organization looking to help or get help in creating s smart city initiative.
Vendors can contact and support Next Century Cities, maybe become partners, but not become a member.
Where can I learn more about smart cities?
Next Century Cities has a great resource page, http://nextcenturycities.org/resources/ where you can see articles in the main list, but at the bottom left they have the resources broken down to help you understand specific areas, like pole attachments and small cells.
Deb Socia is the Executive Director of Next Century Cities, an innovative organization that helps cities develop city initiatives and policies for the infrastructure. They do this by connecting communities so that someone starting out can learn from the more experienced cities. Going beyond technical initiatives and into the city policies and planning. When communities want to move ahead, it helps to talk to someone who has done it before. Contact Den through the contact page or at Deb@nextcenturycities.org.
The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need!
I have been reading about T-Mobile’s request to capture all the CBRS for the carriers, to be auctioned off. I get it! They want it all for themselves. What is the price that American small business pay? I put this together as an open letter to the FCC so Americans can understand how this is going to hurt small business and innovation in LTE. In my opinion, T-Mobile’s greed for spectrum will cost too much for small business to pay. I see this as the “uncarrier” striking a devastating blow into the heart of small companies and innovation that would slow down if not stifle private LTE growth completely. I have to protest! This company claims to be a friend of business, yet, I see it as crushing small businesses, the one thing that they used to support. Let me explain.
T-Mobile proposes that the Commission initiate a rule making proceeding to:
Auction all 150 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band as PALs, with GAA use opportunistically throughout the band.
Authorize PALs on a standard, ten-year license term with renewal expectancy.
Make all PALs available at auction, regardless of the number of applications received.
Permit bidding on specific PAL blocks.
Use Partial Economic Areas (“PEAs”) to license PALs.
Require SAS protection of Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (“CBSD”) registration information.
Make minor changes to the technical rules governing the 3.5 GHz band.
The statement that I protest is “Auction all 150 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band as PALs, with GAA use opportunistically throughout the band.” This seems like a spectrum grab for the rich. They are trying to crush any small business or enterprise that needs private LTE. While they are selfish in grabbing what they can, they are crushing those who are smaller and in their eyes, less significant.
Honestly, it upsets me that T-Mobile would even suggest keeping all the spectrum for the carriers. They claim to be the uncarrier, yet, that is precisely what we would expect a large faceless organization to do and say! T-Mobile is saying, “I want it all for myself” or maybe you could interpret it as, “It’s my sandbox, and I don’t want you in it!”. I see this as what a large corporation would do when faced with losing a little business. They bully the government into stopping entrepreneurs from building their business so they can grab all the business.
Why does this matter? Because in the USA you have no shot of building a wireless broadband business unless you have billions of dollars to hand over to the FCC. It has stifled and shut down small business. Hey, I love Wi-Fi and the unlicensed spectrum, but the reality is that it is not enough to build a sustainable business with creative business practices. I congratulate Boingo for making it work, way to go! However, to play in the licensed spectrum, you need to bow down to the carriers. It’s not an easy business, and the CCA members outside of Sprint and T-Mobile know that. They are working hard to survive with the leftover spectrum that they have. They can’t live without the big 4, and they know that.
I looked at the CBRS as an opportunity for innovation to happen with the local businesses, the enterprise, the warehouses, the smaller businesses that could innovate in ways that the carrier just don’t care to do unless it appeals to the masses, in their eyes anyway.
This is about freedom and small business. It’s not about T-Mobile’s agenda to own all the spectrum. Don’t get me wrong, I think that the spectrum designated for the PAL should have longer license terms, but they need to stop there and make sure the lightly licensed spectrum is free for all who follow the rules.
While T-Mobile apparently doesn’t see it, they could be able to partner with the small business without rolling out small cells everywhere. They could take this opportunity to work with local businesses to expand their footprint without deploying thousands of small cells in all those areas which they wouldn’t deploy anyway.
Let’s be clear about how this hurts innovation that small business can provide.
Let me very clear about how this will crush small business. The part that I am upset with is, “Auction all 150 megahertz of spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band as PALs, with GAA use opportunistically throughout the band.” Not the rest. I really could care less. Why does this upset me, because it would crush the small business who wants to deploy for a specific reason in a given area?
How is T-Mobile hurting smaller businesses? Let me count the ways:
Small business can only access license free bands in Wi-Fi. Maybe LTE-U in the ISM band. This band is already overcrowded, but it has allowed for innovation and opened the door for businesses to grow, outside of the carrier space.
Innovation by small business is key, if the carriers own the entire spectrum, then the innovation that comes from small businesses will be crushed in favor of the large carriers pushing their agenda.
T-Mobile in their quest for more spectrum is enticing the FCC with money, obviously. The other large companies are jumping on board to support this. Do you see this as a David versus Goliath? The Larger corporation is pushing government around to get what they want.
How can a small business innovate LTE systems if they don’t have spectrum to work in? How can they serve the enterprise, warehouses, factories, and other private LTE systems? They can’t, and the carriers made it clear that they will NOT spend the money to do this either. So, in going through with this, you have hurt vertical markets which the carriers, like T-Mobile, deem as too small to serve or maybe not enough profit to support. Ask them if they would put small cells in a building that is under 10,000 square feet, would they, go ahead, ask them.
Listen, this is personal for me too. I am one of the people who would love to innovate and deploy systems in the CBRS. I see great opportunity here for all to do this. I feel that the private LTE systems will solve problems for so many small businesses and open the devices to more than just the carriers. I see an expansion of the wireless ecosystem that we have never seen in history. It would free up enough broadband for us to show the FCC what is truly possible outside of the carrier’s realm. This of what we can do together! We can build stores that automate sales and stocking and ordering. It will automate warehouse work to the next level. It will allow secure and private communication in the enterprise. It will open private and secure communications systems where all they have now is Wi-Fi. It will allow neutral host small cells. It could allow small private wireless systems for a campus, secure and private. It’s exciting, and all of us could be involved! A secure system with video and data, all available to any experienced small business to deploy.
Let’s look at the pros and cons.
Pros:
The FCC could rake in another Billion dollars for the national debt.
More spectrum for the carriers to deliver 5G. By the way, did T-Mobile deploy all that 600MHz yet? Did AT&T deploy all of their spectrum? Did they?
Cons:
The carriers get all the spectrum, as they have now, stifling small business and innovation.
Innovation will be stifled unless the carriers see a mass appeal.
Private LTE systems will be limited to unlicensed bands sharing with Wi-Fi.
Small companies will be pushed out of the wireless arena again.
Enterprise systems will not have wireless LTE in their business plan unless the carriers allow it.
More spectrum for small business to deliver 5G.
All spectrum will be a commodity for the carriers and no other businesses unless they pay the carriers for service, outside of the ISM band which is already overcrowded.
The carriers will continue their monopoly on broadband spectrum in the USA.
What can I do?
Well, let me tell you, I have a list of what you specifically can do! Deadline is Monday, August 8th!
I am so into CBRS, so when I had an opportunity to interview the CTO of Ruckus, Steve Martin, I jumped at it. I was lucky enough to learn even more about CBRS with this deep dive of knowledge from someone who has been working on it. Ruckus has developed devices that perform in the CBRS bands. I am a fan of Ruckus who is a provider of carrier class Wi-Fi systems, an OEM. When I heard they were planning to get into the CBRS game, I got excited and knew that I had to talk to them. Steve was nice enough to accept and go over how amazing the CBRS is. He is going give an overview of the CBRS part of the wireless eco system.
Steve answers so many questions about CBRS. Ruckus has been actively pushing for CBRS to become the next wave of wireless deployments for the carriers, enterprise, and private LTE solutions. So much so they helped form the CBRS Alliance.
Tower Safety and Instruction has online training and eBooks at http://teltech-college.com/ where you can get drone, tower, safety, 5G, and deployment material on your laptop! TSI, making the best better.
Ruckus has done an amazing job deploying carrier grade Wi-Fi, outside and inside. They have complete systems to manage and provide Wi-Fi solutions such as controllers, switches, indoor radios, and outdoor radios. They have been suppliers for enterprise, carrier, and WISP customers. They are a high performance yet easy to deploy wireless OEM. They are cost-cost effective but innovative. They realized that Wi-Fi could not provide all the solutions, so they entered the realm of LTE in the CBRS band, getting me excited about Ruckus Wireless. They are providing new solutions, very innovative.
As everyone knows, I am excited about the CBRS spectrum opening because it’s available to more than just the carriers. It allows small and midsize businesses to build private LTE networks. Something that has been near impossible to do before. So now the carriers can handoff to an independent small cell. An independent small cell can host any carrier. It can be carrier neutral and host multiple carriers. How cool is that? We finally have a solution for the places where carriers won’t invest.
What about other use cases for factories and enterprise customers that want broadband and IOT applications on a dedicated LTE system? Problem solved!
Ruckus was one of the founding members of the CBRS Alliance. The CBRS Alliance has grown from the original 6 to over 60 members.
Here are some questions I wanted to be answered.
How will the CBRS spectrum assignment work? (Licensing and spectrum assignment)
Spectrum assignment will be like how a DHCP server grants and assigns an IP address. In this case, the radio will boot up and send a request to a server which assigns spectrum. Then the Spectrum Allocation Server, (SAS), allocates the bandwidth and spectrum for that specific location and radio. Steve explains more in the interview.
You talk to an SAS vendor, like Federated Wireless or maybe Google, and they will set you up with a subscription. You would pay a monthly subscription to the SAS to make sure that the spectrum is assigned to you, so you’re
What are the spectrum usage tiers of the CBRS?
The incumbents have been using for fixed satellite services and military radar.
Now it’s going to be used for LTE coverage.
GAA – Generally Authorized Access – lightly licensed and open to all.
PAL – Priority Access License which is exclusive usage for that section of It’s the licensed part of the band with a guarantee of that spectrum.
Can CBRS be used outdoors?
Yes, it can be utilized Just make sure that you have approval from SAS for the power level and the channel, which will most likely be the carriers.
You can build a 50W base station if needed. Not everywhere, but in designated areas. That is a macro site in my eyes.
Can CBRS provide coverage for companies outside of the carrier space?
Yes, anyone can apply for spectrum and deploy.
How will it help the enterprise user?
Now the enterprise can go beyond Wi-Fi and have a clean LTE system to work with that is dedicated spectrum for their service.
Private LTE systems?
Industrial IOT systems for IOT.
Fixed wireless applications.
Enterprise solutions for a dedicated wireless system that can handoff.
Rural broadband solutions. (A different use case altogether.)
Private broadband LTE solutions for anything you can imagine.
Anything that you thought of now can be done for more than just the carriers. Get creative here! If you have a problem that needs a wireless and secure solution, here it is.
Will the cable companies use this spectrum?
Yes, it will make it easier for them to use what they have and build out their mobile systems using a combination of licensed, Wi-Fi, and CBRS.
What are the roadblocks keeping carriers from providing better indoor coverage?
DAS systems are a fine solution for larger venues where the carriers see a business case to invest, like NFL and MLB stadiums. What about the smaller to mid-size buildings? How can they be served when the carriers don’t see a cost-effective way to deploy? They don’t want to pay for it, or at least not a DAS system for a few customers. Now they have the CBRS small cells which can fill that gap.
Will CBRS be cost-effective to deploy?
Yes!
Will CBRS spectrum help the smart city?
Of course! It will bring new solutions to the IOT applications in smart It will increase the smart building availability, and allow small systems to be built for specific purposes in any city. It will eventually allow new and dedicated smart city functions to deploy everywhere cost effectively.
Carriers, cable companies, enterprise users, industrial IOT, smart cities, utilities, and more.
Can the CBRS small cells solve carrier’s coverage solutions?
Yes, indoors and out. It’s a great solution for fill and capacity.
Is it possible to have multiple carriers on one small cell?
YES! Multiple LTE carriers on one Small Cell!
This will be a more economical way to deploy small cells to fill holes.
Steve is a wealth of knowledge and someone who is so easy to talk to. Just a great conversation and I strongly recommend that you listen to learn more. I enjoyed talking to him, and I love the way they (Ruckus) envision CBRS LTE systems. It made me want to jump on the Ruckus bandwagon. What a thrill to be part of this time in history. The FCC did something here that will be groundbreaking for the world if it’s successful. They opened new spectrum for use beyond the carriers and into the hands of all American businesses.
This goes beyond the spectrum repack where they migrated the spectrum from broadcast to the carriers, which was great for the carriers. Now they opened spectrum for the rest of the industry allowing innovation to happen outside of the carriers. I can’t wait to see how people solve their problems using private LTE systems. They could connect to a dedicated device or roam onto a smartphone for all to use. We live in exciting times once again, innovation still live! Thank you, FCC, for doing this!
Steve Martin is the Chief Technology Officer of Ruckus. He holds many positions in industry groups. He is on the CBRS Alliance Board of Directors and the Wireless Broadband Alliance Board of Directors. Just a great guy all around. He has been with Ruckus since 2006 but became the CTO in 2017, congratulations, Steve!
Ruckus Wireless is a carrier class Wi-Fi company that offers best in class Wi-Fi systems. Based in beautiful Sunnyvale, Ca, the high-tech company has provided outdoor and indoor wireless solutions for over a decade. Brocade recently acquired Ruckus, and then Brocade got bought by Broadcom, and then Ruckus was being spun out and then bought by Arris International, the story found here, where Ruckus will be a division of Arris. Arris is an amazing company that provides equipment to many of the cable companies worldwide. Cable companies deploy wireless everywhere, so the acquisition makes perfect sense to me. FYI, it’s cool that Arris has a racing club, learn more at http://www.arris.com/ARRISRacing/ if interested. I am quickly becoming a fan of Arris.
The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need!
Do you wonder about enterprise small cells and their applications? Have you wondered what CBRS is? How does CBRS work? Who watches the licenses? How is the spectrum managed?
My big question, will the CBRS small cell be a neutral host small cell for multiple carriers? I also want to know about the use cases for this spectrum, one thing that would work outside of the carrier’s domination of spectrum.
Tower Safety and Instruction has online training and eBooks at http://teltech-college.com/ where you can get drone, tower, safety, 5G, and deployment material on your laptop! TSI, making the best better.
Learn all this am more sports fans! Art goes over the CBRS spectrum and how will the spectrum allocation and licensing happen. It would be better if you listen to the Podcast instead of just looking at these high-level notes. I just could not keep up with all his knowledge!
We met at the NeDAS show in 2016, and I have tried to stay in touch ever since. He is always busy trying to improve the SpiderCloud footprint, and he has been doing a great job. They had a partnership with Cisco for years that helped them get noticed. SpiderCloud has proven that the enterprise model works for licensed spectrum.
I wanted to speak to Art this time because I need to understand the CBRS and how it works. I also want to see what business models he would have for indoor. I then found out that SpiderCloud is going to venture into the great outdoors! WOW! To me, this is a breakthrough, and they intend to do it with the CBRS product they are going to roll out. There is a blog about it here, https://blogs.cisco.com/sp/wait-for-it-wait-for-it-5g-its-here if you want to learn more.
The thing that has me excited is that they created http://spidercloud.com/cbrs to help people like me build up my knowledge about CBRS. I need all the help I can get!
What about those questions? Here is my attempt to answer, but best to hear Art answer them in the interview. You do not want to miss it!
Do you wonder about enterprise small cells and their applications?
Yes, otherwise you would not be reading this!
Have you wondered what CBRS is?
CBRS is the Citizens Broadband Radio Service which is in the USA and works in the 3.5GHz band to provide spectrum solutions for 3 major groups. The FCC has provided 150MHz of spectrum that is a combination of licensed and lightly licensed here in the USA.
It includes 2 LTE bands, band 42 – 3.55GHZ to 3.66GHz and band 43 – 3.66GHz to 3.70GHz.
User access setup for:
PAL – Priority Access Licenses who have 10MHz channels in the 3.55GHz to 3.65GHz bands
GAA – General Authorized Access is anyone dynamically allocated that can use any portion of the band if they do not interfere with the PAL. Hey GAA, be a pal and stay away from the PAL operators!
How does CBRS work?
Like any small LTE network in the 3.5GHz band.
Who watches the licenses?
There is a system like called the ASA
How is the spectrum managed?
Through a system called SAS, Spectrum Access System where the groups getting on the system will pay a small fee, I don’t know what that is yet, to be assigned spectrum. Whatever spectrum is open in that area. If someone else is a priority user, they automatically get that Otherwise, you get open spectrum. Location matters.
Look at it like this, on a laptop if you are on a shared network a DNS, Domain Name Server would assign your IP address automatically. This would be a similar system assigning you spectrum for your specific area. If someone else comes in you would have priority unless they were a PAL, then they would get their spectrum.
Who is Art King? Art is the Director of Marketing for SpiderCloud Wireless Inc. He has extensive experience in the enterprise from his years as the Global Infrastructure Architecture Lead at Nike, impressive, right? Well, he also is a Board Member of the Small Cell Forum, an outstanding site where you can learn more and more about small cells. Learn more about Art at LinkedIn. If you met Art, you would really like Art, a combination of technical genius and charm which is a winning combination in my book. I call Art the King of Enterprise Small Cells because he and SpiderCloud championed the business case and the growth of the enterprise small cell better than anyone. They worked hard to build the business case, and they saw a glimpse of what the enterprise can do with licensed spectrum. Many other companies have followed this disruptor, but they all came in later. Art was key to making this happen.
SpiderCloud, http://www.spidercloud.com/, is a wireless small cell company that specialized in enterprise small cells and have worked with major carriers in the US to deploy indoor small cells. They are a member of the CBRS Alliance, one of the founding members in fact. The membership has grown in the last year.
Special note, Corning just acquired SpiderCloud, the story is here. While SpiderCloud partnered with Cisco for a long time, they never took the next step to purchase SpiderCloud, but Corning sees real value here. They know that they can step up the game and use this as another tool in their arsenal. It is another weapon in their portfolio and one that makes CommScope very nervous.
The foundations below do beautiful work, helping families in their time of need. Climbers often get seriously injured or die on the job. The foundations below support those families in their time of greatest need!
I have been following the broadband repack for some time. I thought I would share what I learned and how I found teams to help.
First off, what is it? It is where the FCC held 2 auctions. Yes, 2 auctions so that they could get the spectrum back from the television broadcasters. You see, one auction was to regain the spectrum from the broadcaster and the other was to unload the spectrum to the carriers. All of this in the 600MHz band.
The broadcasters were in a reverse auction where they could request money from the FCC and get paid based on their market for their spectrum. They would also get new spectrum. So, they get paid to unload their spectrum.
Then another auction for the carriers to buy the spectrum in the 600MHz band. This gives them the opportunity to gain more spectrum and grow for a few billion dollars. The big winner in this auction was T-Mobile, who intends to fill their holes across the US. They spent quite a bit. However, AT&T bought very little, and Verizon showed little interest. T-Mobile did very well. Comcast snatched up some spectrum too, among many others.
Back to the broadcasters. Now they must move to the new spectrum which involves much work. They need to take down what they have and build a new transmitter. They have to replace their antenna and line. It is a lot of work. They need to do all of this before the deadline hits.
Tower Safety and Instruction has online training and eBooks at http://teltech-college.com/ where you can get drone, tower, safety, 5G, and deployment material on your laptop! TSI, making the best better.
Some questions get answered here like:
What is the repack?
What is involved in the repack?
When does it have to be done?
Who pays for the hardware and services?
Will the FCC keep track of all of this?
What is spectrum reallocation?
Who can help you do this?
What is the repack? What is spectrum repacking in the USA? It is the FCC reallocating spectrum from the broadcasters to the telecom companies. They did this through the spectrum auction in 2016. It took years to plan and then execute and now it will take years to complete the moving of equipment.
Telecom companies are requesting a lot more spectrum to increase wireless broadband in the USE.
The FCC knows that most broadcasters rely more and more on cable and dish to deliver content.
So, they decided to make an offer to the broadcaster where they could sell their spectrum to the telecom companies through an auction controlled by the FCC.
The FCC had a reverse auction to get the spectrum from the broadcasters.
Then the FCC had a forward auction to hand out the spectrum to wireless carriers, like T-Mobile.
The Auction was completed in 2016 for both sides, not the repacking begins.
Repacking means that the broadcasters replace their transmitters, line, and antennas to put their stations in a new band. All new equipment and the services to go with it funded by the FCC and the money they got from the auction. The FCC has a budget that they are working with, thanks to the carriers.
While carriers like T-Mobile are excited to get the new spectrum so we all can use it to enjoy broadband and build the infrastructure of wireless in the USA, it is not an easy thing to do.
So, when planning a smart city, the regulations matt
What is involved in a repack? Broadcasters have a tremendous amount of work to move ahead. They must make many changes on each of their towers over the next 4 years. They have until July 13th of 2021 to complete all the work. Sounds easy, right, that is over 4 years from the time I am writing this.
Build up the new transmitter in the new band.
Install the new line and antennas.
Move over to the new spectrum and bring the new equipment live.
Take down the old line and antenna.
Deconstruct the old transmitter.
It is a lot of work to have this completed in an industry that has insufficient resources. Someone should manage all of this, do the tower work, provide the antennas, change out the transmitters. If you think this is something that can be done quickly, then you are in telecom and have no idea what the broadcasters deal with or what their system looks like. They have a large antenna that could be 2,000 feet high, that is right, 2K, not 200. It weighs hundreds of pounds, not pounds. The line is a copper coax that is very heavy, not fiber. It is work, and it needs to be managed.
The broadcasters have a tremendous amount of work to get done. They will completely de-install their equipment from their towers. This is a massive undertaking which will take a lot of time and planning before the real work gets done. It will take a team of people. The tower workers will be so busy over the next 3 years trying to complete all the removals and installing the new equipment. The broadcasters will be off the air along with anyone else who may be at the same level as them.
Let’s look at challenges ahead:
Old antennas to be removed could weigh up to 20,000lbs, that is right, 20 thousand!
Antennas are over 700 feet or higher, up to 2,000 feet, that is high, and you might have to remove the same thing that weighs thousands of pounds!
The coax is usually copper sections that weigh over 50lbs per section. Heavy, hundreds of feet running up to the top. Grounded at sections and mounted solidly to the tower. WOW!
The transmitter is big, and it must be removed.
The new equipment could be the same size as the old, it may have to be put in before the old being removed, or a temporary setup needs installed.
If a temporary setup is installed, then the permanent solution will have to be installed at some point.
This is high power stuff, which means it takes more engineering and testing to make sure there are no problems. At high power you have arcing, high voltage, and many safety issues.
There is a deadline, so it is a pressure job.
Resources, like tower crews, will be maxed out and super busy, so it is going to be hard to get what you need when you need it.
When rushed, you overlook stuff, it happens. Mistakes happen. Bad weather happens. Schedules get impacted.
If you do not apply with the FCC, form 2100, schedule 399, properly, you may not get reimbursed so you may spend more money than you have too.
It may be too late when you ask for help! Then you are already behind, (and screwed!). Don’t wait!
Then they must remove the old transmitter from the site after they installed the new one.
You see, they will have to have all the new equipment installed and ready to turn up, just like they did when they converted to digital several years ago. They will need to have the new system in or something temporary in and ready to go live. This means a full installation and test before turning down the old station.
When does it have to be done? Here are next steps that broadcaster engineers need to get done quickly, which I found at here on the Broadcast Law Blog, an excellent blog written by David Oxenford.
July 12th was the deadline your estimated construction costs for equipment and services to the FCC, form 2100 schedule 399. Did you do this?
For a great video on what the broadcasters must do, look at https://youtu.be/l03Hff97hqE to see what is going on. NAB did a great job of summing this up. For anyone in the business, they get it because they know the work that must be done and how dangerous it is and that it takes a lot of planning and project management. It takes professionals to do this job. It takes people that can work with a crane or a GIN pole. It takes broadcast engineers to commission TV stations for over the air broadcast.
Who pays for the hardware and services? The FCC, of course, this is an amazing time when the money will come from the FCC with the reserves they built from the auction. The broadcasters would get the money if they requested it using Form 2100 – Schedule 399. This was the important part because they ask to get it. Otherwise, they will pay for it. I hope they all asked for all the money, project management, hardware, services, and anything else they could add in there. This is not the time to go cheap!
Will the FCC keep track of all of this? Yes, of course, they will not only take the request but also, they need receipts and documentation to monitor the progress and the expenses associated with this. Make sure you keep good records of everything. In fact, they said that so far they expect it to cost $2.1B based on what they know, the article found here, http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0002/broadcasters-cable-ops-turn-in-21-billion-for-reimbursement/281416.
Who can help you do this? Of course, I have someone who can help. Specifically, a friend of mine works at QCOM. I am working with my friends at QCommunications, LLC, (QCOM), about how to manage this. Just let them know Wade sent you!
They said it takes much time to get it all done and it will take endless babysitting to make sure all the steps are complete. This will take good project management by seasoned broadcast engineers.
QCOM told me that they have the PM support to oversee and assist with the critical steps. However, whether you want their help or not, it is a good idea to look over the steps involved. Most broadcast engineers probably are already dealing with this. The steps include:
Form 2100– Schedule 399 preparation
System Audit
System transition plan, engineering and cost analysis
Project Management
Decommissioning and Legacy equipment disposal
Post install system testing
Post Auction Transition Planning
Project management
RF Engineering and Field services
New System Installation, Integration, and Testing
Engineering analysis and evaluation of the cost to relocate to an alternative channel
Tower Mapping, Modifications Minor, Major and Serious as well as Installation
HVAC services
Interim Solutions, Engineer, Design, PM, and Installation
Impact Study
Studio and Production Control transition
Coordinating all the services and crews and hardware deliveries.
It is a lot of work. However, this time the FCC will reimburse the broadcasters for their work and equipment. If they file the forms in time, the forms and the request should be made before getting paid. So, they need to make sure they account for everything. They will need to use their planning skills to account for everything. They also need to add some money in there for the problems they are not thinking of yet. That is right! They should consider the worst-case scenario to make sure that they are prepared to cover it. Don’t be cheap! You only get reimbursed if you have the receipts, but if you do not make the request, then you get nothing. Plan well, get the tower modifications if they are needed. Get the PM for the extra help. Hire extra engineers to execute quickly and properly. Plan for the extras, so you get reimbursed properly Don’t short change yourselves or losing money. The FCC forces you to go digital and they did not give you any money for that, but now you have an opportunity to get all of this done from the money from the auction. How great is that? It is awesome!
How is the spectrum be reallocated? It’s being bought from the broadcasters and distributed to the telecom companies for wireless LTE broadband as part of the 5G roll out. That’s how the spectrum is being allocated, through the auction and the money is going from the telecom companies to the FCC, who will take some, but they are going to make sure that the broadcasters get their share and get some of the services and hardware paid for.
This is a lot of work and something that your team may or may not want to do alone. If you need help, just ask. Feel free to let me know at wade4wireless@gmail.com, or you can reach out to QCOM at https://www.qcom1.com/contact-us/ to get more information, just tell them Wade sent you there!
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I know what you’re thinking, indoor connectivity, why does that matter for the smart city? What is indoor connectivity for the smart city? Is it part of a smart building? I mean really Wade, who cares? Indoor connectivity will matter just as much as outdoor connectivity. After all, the smartphone should not stop working when you go into a building. If your phone stops working, how does that make you feel? It sucks, right! What about public safety, they can’t have their radios die the minute they go into a building, that could mean death, literally, for them or whoever needs help. Indoor connectivity should be thought of as crucial for any city, much less a smart city.
Do you stop using your device when you go inside any building? Seriously? Of course not, you don’t expect it too.
Tower Safety and Instruction has online training and eBooks at http://teltech-college.com/ where you can get drone, tower, safety, 5G, and deployment material on your laptop! TSI, making the best better.
Indoor coverage included the entire building. It’s sad when you see a disaster happen and people don’t have coverage in the obvious places in a disaster, like the stairwells or the closets or basements. Why is that? Because normally people don’t go there and the building owner didn’t want to pay for something that no one would normally use. That is why there are regulations, in some cities, to make sure that at least the emergency bands used by fire and police are working in those areas. The local fire departments and radio shops can put this in and test it. However, most business people don’t enforce this because they know that businesses and building owners do not want to pay for it. We all think it’s OK until a fire or a terrorist attack happens and the people inside can’t communicate because they are in dead zones. In an emergency, a dead zone could mean that the people could die because they could not reach help. That often gets overlooked just to save a few dollars in many cities.
So, when planning a smart city, the regulations matter, the rules to define whether a company needs to have the best coverage, wired and wireless, in their building really matters in the grand scheme. Why not think it through and look at what has happened in the past. Take the necessary measures to ensure that buildings are being built to the proper code for structure and safety.
We still need fiber inside the building. Run it to every floor if possible. We really need fiber not only from the outside in but from the demarcation to each floor and across every floor. We need to connect every data and computer room. Even the emergency systems, the alarms systems will need to be connected. They will also need redundancy, just in case some contract goes crazy with a drill or a reciprocating saw, I have seen this first hand with wires, pipes, and power. It happens!
Fiber matters for what we want to do, the way we want to go. Broadband is what we all need to some point. Whether it’s back to an internet connection or if its dedicated fiber to a specific location for a specific purpose, we want fiber. After all, it connects the world. We all thought that satellites would do that, and they do, but they have too much delay. Fiber needs to be laid, but it works so well and opens new options.
Cable & Copper
Cable companies will be running their solutions to these building. They may even use fiber to get in the building, but they may rely on cable and CAT5 to distribute throughout the building once they are in.
CAT5 and CAT6 will be crucial. Ask any data center, any enterprise, any company that thinks they can run without having data lines all over the offices. Sure, they rely on Wi-Fi and small cells, but what feeds the Wi-Fi and small cells? That’s right, either fiber but most likely CAT5. It’s been around for a long time, and it’s not going anywhere.
I know most of you think that fiber will take over, but until fiber can carry power, (spoiler alert – it can’t alone!), then we need CAT5 or CAT6 or whatever else they come out with. CAT5 has been used for over 15 years, and it’s still going strong. Don’t deny it, we love wireless, but we need CAT5 somewhere.
Wi-Fi
This is the obvious thing that we all expect to see everywhere. I don’t think I need to cover this issue because almost every public area has Wi-Fi and most offices have it as well.
This is going to be on the same spectrum as Wi-Fi and the carriers are excited because the handoff from licensed LTE spectrum to unlicensed LTE is almost seamless if it’s setup properly. This will be a game changer for all the carriers to share loading with devices in the ISM license-free band. WOW! A way for your smartphone to hand off its data and VoLTE, (Voice over LTE) calls to a spectrum that should not cost you any data on your plan.
If this can be put on every device, I would see it really is a game changer for the carriers to hand off to almost any vendors units. With the coming of age of the cloud and mobile edge computing, MEC, we will see things improve greatly.
This is critical, but it’s an unknown. I don’t talk about public safety bands much because it’s going to go through changes. These departments still need to have the urgent PTT, (Push to Talk), Voice access because it’s reliable and immediate. We don’t want to wait for the emergency responders to be able to communicate in an emergency.
They still need data to work their laptops and gather information. FirstNet is taking care of this with their recent partnership with AT&T to provide dedicated coverage for first responders. I am waiting to see how this plays out. I am glad that first responders will have a priority channel, but most of them already have smartphones. They don’t all have devices paid for by their jobs, many use their personal devices and coverage plans because not all governments have the budget to supply everyone with what they need.
For the emergency responders, there are rules in many areas that require buildings to put in DAS systems or radios so that emergency responders have coverage as I said before. I have no idea who has this requirement and who doesn’t. It really seems to vary, even within cities.
While the public safety aspect will weigh heavily in the smart city planning, it should be thought of as part of the wireless and wireline deployment. Please don’t make it an afterthought. It will take regulations to ensure that all indoor coverage is thought out and planned properly.
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DAS systems
DAS systems are still booming in high density and high traffic areas. They are being upgraded. While small cells are making a dent, they are being used together to provide better coverage for less cost.
You see, the original DAS systems could include a Macro site to feed it for the system to reach all the areas of the building, stadium, or whatever you’re trying to cover. Now they can feed it with small cells. Now they can transport the signals digitally, meaning that instead of coax cable they can run fiber and use power from a local connection point or even run things through router and power the radio head with PoE, (Power Over Ethernet) which is really a great way to deploy.
DAS, (Distributed Antenna System), is a great way to get the signal out to the people, but it’s a financial commitment that small and some mid-size businesses don’t want to pay for. The carriers no longer see a payback on these systems, and they are looking for a less expensive way to get the signal out to the people.
Hey, I love DAS systems. They are crucial for the wireless infrastructure to cover venues. But the carriers are looking for more cost-effective ways to get the signal out. Now that we entered the age of a seamless digital network using LTE for wireless we can distribute the signal using fiber and CAT5 cable instead of the coaxial cable and splitters and analog amplifiers that we relied on in the past. DAS systems have evolved and will continue to evolve to meet the needs of today’s market.
CBRS
I have been speaking about how the spectrum of 5G will shift into the hands of the small business once again. The US CBRS is the 3.5GHz band, which runs from 3550 to 3700 MHz band. CBRS stands for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (I remember the CB, Citizens Band, here in the US). It is a lightly licensed spectrum, but it is split up into 2 areas. There is Military radar, and Earth stations that use this spectrum that is grandfathered in and have priority access. That will not change. There will be Authorized Shared Access, (ASA). Currently in the US only, but Europe is looking to follow suit with Licensed Shared Access, (LSA).
ASA includes:
Incumbent access including the federal government and satellite providers.
Priority access licenses (PAL) which are 7 10MHz licenses to be awarded to the highest bidders. PALs will be protected from the GAA users. PAL will include commercial users like carriers, rural operators, are a 3-year license with only 1 renewal term allowed now, and will be in the 3500 to 3650 portion of the spectrum. One licensee can hold only 4 PAL licenses.
General access user, (GAA) which is “Licensed by rule” which requires the rules to be followed. This will be dedicated in the 3650 to 3750 MHz portion of the band.
A PAL may gain additional GAA spectrum.
Companies that currently have this spectrum licenses will be able to keep their licenses; this was used for WiMAX in the past, now it will be LTE focused.
Licensing will be done by the Spectrum Allocation System, (SAS), which is a group that can charge for these services, currently being led by Google and Federated Wireless.
Hardware vendors include SpiderCloud, Ruckus, Nokia, Ericsson, Samsung, ip.access, and Acceleron.
I was reading a report by ABI Research that mentions several articles pointing to Verizon Wireless plans to use CBRS to replace middle price DAS systems, the articles in RCR and Fierce Wireless using CBRS as the neutral host solution. Then it shows how Nokia added the CBRS to its Airscale product and the Ruckus OpenG product to follow suit. Not to be outdone but Acceleron also has a CBRS product. Just to be fair, Spidercloud was one of the first to have a CBRS product. It spears that Spidercloud is already reaching out the DAS vendors and Verizon to bridge the gap for smaller DAS systems. We shall see more of SAS, (Small Cell Antenna Systems) popping up to replace the smaller DAS systems.
Could CBRS solve the DAS middleware problem? Could CBRS products fill the void where no one wants to invest in those 100,000 to 500,000 square feet venues where it is too small for a carrier but too large for a small cell? Is this the savior we are looking for? I hope so! A clean way to hand off and a lightly licensed spectrum where we would not all be trampling on each other in the Wi-Fi space. I see a solution that could solve so many issues, financial and technical.
This will mostly be an indoor solution, something where we could replace some DAS system with a common platform licensed spectrum that all the carriers and non-carriers could share to reach the dense population, it will be used for enterprise and outdoor coverage as a critical part of the 5G network slice. I am looking forward to seeing what small businesses can do with this spectrum to serve the people.
If you want a quick overview, here are 2 links that can help:
I see CBRS filling the public venues with an alternative to smaller DAS systems by dropping in a CBRS small cell with multiple bands to provide a lightly licensed signal where the carriers would roam onto this device. Clean signal without the threat of another access point going up on the same band(s).
Factories have connected systems that may not be so reliant on Wi-Fi. Now they can dedicate a specific carrier to that function inside the factory so that no one may share it. Keep that spectrum dedicated for the machines and very low latency so that no one else can use it, jump on it, or break it. That is a game changer for indoor wireless!
I often overlook the use of indoor wireless for factories and distribution warehouses. This is a great use case for indoor wireless and one that needs low latency as well as dedicated spectrum. You want to keep it secure and dedicated for one purpose. Here is a perfect spectrum that they can add to any machine in their system. It helps to cut down on issues due to latency. Distribution will need to provide accurate order filling, and factories will need to have real-time feedback on how the machines are performing or if they need to make changes.
CBRS will allow small business and Enterprise to have their lightly licensed spectrum, something that the FCC has kept from small business for quite some time. I get it, they make billions on the auctions, but it has not helped small business broadband. They feel the ISM band was enough for them to build on. I feel differently. Now I see opportunity in CBRS, centimeter wave and millimeter wave spectrums. Let’s deploy and bring broadband and narrowband to the masses! Broadband for internet access and narrowband for IOT access. It’s exciting to see the industry have more opportunity again!
How secure could you make a CBRS system? You could have a dedicated band just for your internal use and only have it on your devices. Invisible to the outside world but giving you the bandwidth that you need in your office, warehouse, or factory.
We have seen the players be OEMs and carriers and other integrators in this space. Who has been conspicuously absent has been the cable companies. Here is space where they can shine, grow, and spread beyond Wi-Fi without building an ironclad agreement with one carrier. They have the money and the deployment process to make this a phenomenal area of growth. I would like to think that SpiderCloud would be calling the cable companies with proposals and business cases. Just my opinion. It is time for the cable companies to make it happen in wireless deployment.
Inside coverage summary
So, to sum it up, there are plenty of options that you will have. Some you have control of and some you don’t. You also need to separate what the first responders will need and what other services will need. This is specific to the band and the coverage. It matters.
When planning, try not to think of just one service or area. Look at the building, then look at the service you want. Something like what I have below.
The building has:
Common areas like the entrance, the mezzanine, the food courts.
Emergency exits, stairwells, basements, rooftops and other areas that are only accessed by workers, contractors, and when there’s an emergency.
Office space that may be secure and locked occupied by tenants.
Rest rooms, public and tenant only.
Hallways where people could be walking at any given time.
Entrance and exit areas where people could stop to smoke on break or congregate.
Coverage for:
Public safety should cover the entire building.
Carriers will want to cover the common areas and some tenant offices.
IOT coverage for the meters, air conditioners, thermostats and other controls.
Private networks throughout the building in tenant spaces.
Emergency phone connections:
Elevators
Rooftops
One on each floor
Basement
Wherever the generators are located.
I hope this helps you what needs to be added to the buildings in a smart city.
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made it the X flip phone, like the devices Nextel had. Xtreme Fail! Xtreme disappointment!
remember that they are a technology company first and foremost. All I can ask is, “is that what Steve Jobs would have done?” Would he have put the technology on a back burner just to release a new device? I think we all know the answer to that.
Putting together your smart city tech solutions, planning, development, and more….TechFecta! Guiding you to a better plan through consulting!
