Defining the Innovation Band and Shared Spectrum Access

Spectrum sharing rules for the 3.5 GHz band in the US are beginning to take shape. While there are still some important aspects to define, the broad lines have been drawn for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). The process of fine-tuning the rules will continue following the April Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPRM) (comments are due July 14th and reply comments by August 1st). The proposed rules will have a three-tiered spectrum sharing scheme in 3550 – 3650 MHz between Incumbent Access, Priority Access License (PAL) and General Authorized Access (GAA) users. Furthermore, there door is open to roll into this band the 3650 – 3700 MHz band which today operates on a non-exclusive licensed basis.