License-holders will be able to provide GAA users — including smaller carriers, stadiums, municipalities, and event organizers — access to their $4.6 billion PAL spectrum assets
ARLINGTON, Va. – October 11, 2021 – Federated Wireless, shared spectrum and private wireless network pioneer, today announced availability of its Spectrum Exchange, which enables Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) Priority Access License (PAL) holders to lease under-utilized spectrum to third parties to supplement General Authorized Access (GAA) availability. The Spectrum Exchange provides an automated portal that gives organizations almost instant access to dedicated spectrum without the need for direct engagement with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
The Spectrum Exchange enables PAL holders to monetize unused CBRS spectrum while enabling non PAL holders to take advantage of scalable, flexible CBRS connectivity. Lessors can easily publish pricing, terms, and location options; view and transact effortlessly with potential lessees; receive instant payment for executed transactions and maintain control of leasing terms. It is ideal for lessees such as local or regional service providers who need additional spectrum to increase availability; universities, utilities and municipalities wishing to deploy private networks; and stadiums, outdoor venues and other organizations who need more spectrum temporarily for high-capacity and high-density events. By creating the first secondary marketplace for CBRS spectrum, Federated Wireless is bringing buyers and sellers together to harness this resource.
“The Federated Wireless Spectrum Exchange gives us and PAL holders the best of both worlds, allowing them to monetize spectrum they acquired through their PALs and giving us and our customers the spectrum we need, when we need it,” said Frontier Wireless Director of Wireless Architect Engineering, Carlos Cardona. “This will greatly accelerate 5G services to market, ensuring that end-users have the highest-quality wireless experiences, and helping the U.S. maintain its lead in global 5G deployments.”
Heavy-duty Connectivity with Light Touch API
The Spectrum Exchange uses Light Touch API technology to eliminate the need to file documents and wait for approval from the FCC, for those wishing to lease spectrum from PAL holders. The engagement model is analogous to peer-to-peer accommodation services (e.g. Airbnb, VRBO, etc), offering simplicity, flexibility and quick transaction time for leasing spectrum.
Organizations seeking assured, PAL-grade connectivity throughout the 3.5 GHz CBRS band will simply visit the Spectrum Exchange, browse through the lists of providers, spectrum availability, time periods and locations, and place an order online. Cost for spectrum is determined by each spectrum owner and can vary depending on geography and bandwidth amounts. Spectrum is allocated almost instantly for the period requested through the Federated Wireless Spectrum Access System (SAS), with ongoing delivery assured through the Federated Wireless network operations center (NOC).
Federated Wireless: A Long History of Market Leadership
Long the CBRS market leader, Federated Wireless currently has more than 200 customers with more than 70,000 CBRS radios deployed across the United States and its territories. Its customer base includes federal, state and local governments, electric co-ops, large interstate gas and electric companies, oil refineries, commercial and federal enterprises, and tier one Mobile Network Operators (MNOs), including Verizon Wireless’ nationwide CBRS 4G and 5G networks. Additional deployments include tier one cable operators and tower companies, and more than 100 Wireless Internet Service Providers (WISPs).
The Federated Wireless Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) network is fully redundant and hardened to withstand catastrophic weather events such as hurricanes and tropical storms. This, combined with its market-leading SAS, hosted on AWS, will enable the delivery of high performance, high reliability connectivity to the Internet. Federated Wireless was the first to launch a commercial SAS and a nationwide ESC network.
“The launch of the Federated Wireless Spectrum Exchange is the next critical step in broad proliferation of the benefits of shared spectrum services, and I am very proud of what we and our partners, including the FCC, have been able to accomplish in such a brief period of time,” said Iyad Tarazi, CEO of Federated Wireless. “Availability of this marketplace eradicates barriers to assured, high-performance, high-availability connectivity for anyone who needs it, enabling new business models and greatly accelerating private 5G service expansion nationwide. I can’t wait to see what people will build with this new wave of shared spectrum availability.”
About Federated Wireless
Founded in 2012, Federated Wireless has long led the industry in development of shared spectrum CBRS capabilities. The company’s partner ecosystem includes more than 40 device manufacturers and edge partners, all of which are dedicated to collaboration to advance development and proliferation of CBRS services. Federated Wireless’ customer base includes companies spanning the telecommunications, energy, hospitality, education, retail, office space, municipal and residential verticals, with use cases ranging from network densification and mobile offload to Private 4G/5G and Industrial IoT. For more information, visit: www.federatedwireless.com.
