- Rather than focusing on the 3.5 GHz CBRS band, Federated Wireless wants Washington, D.C., policymakers to look at the 4 GHz band
- 4 GHz offers a “clean slate” with 500 MHz of contiguous spectrum, minimal DoD conflict and propagation similar to C-band
- CEO Iyad Tarazi cites steady tech gains as making higher bands like 4 GHz increasingly viable for mobile operators
It’s no secret that Federated Wireless, a pioneer in the CBRS space, is a big fan of the 3.55-3.7 GHz band. It’s the portion of the 3 GHz band designated for shared use with the U.S. Navy – the first such band in the U.S.
But as the U.S. government looks for more spectrum to reallocate for fully licensed spectrum for the Big 3 wireless carriers to use as they move to 6G, Federated Wireless wants to protect the 3.5 GHz so that it remains a CBRS band. That’s one of the reasons the company is so eager to redirect everyone’s attention to the 4 GHz band, starting with today’s release of a 4 GHz position paper.
According to Federated, the 4.4-4.94 GHz band represents the best opportunity for U.S. carriers to spread their RF wings and steer clear of the types of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) pitfalls that are rampant in the 3 GHz band.
“We believe that operators will enjoy the characteristics of 4 GHz,” Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi told Fierce. “It's very operator friendly. We're beginning to build the industry momentum for it.”
Sizing up spectrum
Tarazi, who served as a VP of Network Technology Development and Integration at Sprint about 20 years ago, knows spectrum. When he was at Sprint, the 2.5 GHz spectrum was considered high-band spectrum – even higher than the 1.9 GHz PCS spectrum that today is considered “mid-band” spectrum.
“When I started working with 2.5, everybody told me: ‘Don't even work on it. It's terrible.' But by the time we started working on it to the time we deployed it, the technology caught up,” he said.
“Here's the way to think about it. The formula we used to use – every year or two, you get about three dB improvement in the technology that you deploy,” he said.
That means better signals for everything from antennas to handsets. “All of these things help give you better coverage, better distance, better quality. Ultimately, technology gets better, so you can keep the same exact towers you have,” he said.
Nowadays, most of the 2.5 GHz spectrum is the U.S. in the hands of T-Mobile, which acquired Sprint. Verizon and AT&T are relying heavily on C-band spectrum, which is in the 3.7 GHz range, for their mid-band 5G airwaves. The lower 3 GHz is occupied by the DoD, which is in no hurry to leave.
4 GHz fulfills mandate
Given the fragmentation and limits of the 3 GHz band – and its desire to keep CBRS in tact at 3.55-3.7 GHz – Federated Wireless’ newly released position paper argues that the 4 GHz band represents a “clean-slate spectrum opportunity,’ unlike the heavily encumbered 3 GHz band.
In 4 GHz’s favor: It’s attractive for 6G because it’s free of legacy commercial services, the current DoD radars and tactical systems in the band are well understood and the propagation characteristics are generally similar to the C-band, with a contiguous 500 MHz available.
“I have no doubt that today's technology makes 4 GHz very suitable for mobile operators’ tower locations and the equipment they can buy from OEMs today, and that it will only get better with time,” Tarazi said.
In the One Big Beautiful Bill (OBBB) that Congress passed earlier this year, the 3.1-3.45 GHz and the 7.4-8.4 GHz bands, both occupied by military services, were deemed exempt from auctions. Tarazi said it would have been nice if the 3.5 GHz CBRS band also were protected, but the law centered on protecting federal users.
“I think at the end of the day, it didn’t fit properly in the bill,” he said. “They kept it a lot simpler. Ultimately, finding another 500 MHz and continuing to keep CBRS growing – it’s like a double plus, because you can have both. We want to continue to focus on that.”