Private 5G Networks at Risk

Today, hundreds of major U.S. manufacturing facilities, airports and seaports, school campuses, sporting arenas, and rural internet service providers (ISPs) rely on local access to shared spectrum in the prime 3 GHz band to operate private wireless 5G networks. This spectrum is a critical enabler of low-cost connectivity and productivity.

U.S. manufacturers and other innovators are rapidly adopting private 5G networks by leveraging mid-band airwaves the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opened for use five years ago. The FCC’s Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) currently enables more than 1,000 entities to share these airwaves on a low-power basis through a combination of auctioned licenses and open shared access while protecting U.S. Navy radar systems from harmful interference.

This event will recap two new studies that demonstrate the enormous opportunity of private wireless networks fueled by CBRS and the significant disruption that would result from mobile industry efforts to radically change the framework for shared use of the band.

The first study, by Analysis Mason for the American Made 5G coalition, shows the U.S. leads the world by far in private 5G networks, most in the manufacturing sector to support advanced applications and reshoring. Roughly 75 percent of U.S. private 5G networks rely on CBRS and primarily on the open and shared upper half of the band.

The second study, by Valo Analytica for the Spectrum for the Future coalition, demonstrates the very disruptive impact that a proposal to raise maximum power levels in CBRS would have on current users. It focuses on John Deere; the Miami International Airport; and Amplex, a rural wireless ISP.