Dave Wright: Does CBRS Hold Promise For The Future Of Spectrum Management?

Pacific Telecommunications Council

Interviewee: Dave Wright, President, CBRS Alliance, USA What you will learn in this audiocast (18 min 40 sec): In a time of scarce spectrum resource, should we completely rethink how we use spectrum? Should we be focussing on spectrum sharing between different users and even different services? Should we likewise press for local licensing of key spectrum bands? The first stages of so-called democratization of spectrum usage may have already begun with the imminent deployment of CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) in the U.S. In this coffee break podcast from the PTC, we look at the prospects for CBRS and what many think is a radical approach in the spectrum community. CBRS usage has been allocated the 3.55GHz to 3.7GHz band by U.S. policymakers and is formulated as a three-tier system that categorizes users into different priorities. Proponents believe that many different types of users and applications will be able to take advantage of CBRS facilities, which use novel sharing and prioritization methodologies. The CBRS Alliance, an industry association of many entities participating in the CBRS space, believes that LTE-based solutions in the 3.5GHz band, utilizing shared spectrum, can enable both in-building and outdoor coverage and capacity expansion at massive scale. Moreover, according to the Alliance, migration to 5G services in this band is practical. Topics covered include: • The place and organization of CBRS • The role of the CBRS Alliance • What is the rationale for flexible approaches to spectrum management? • What happens to 5G in the CBRS band? • Are use cases established in CBRS? Are entities really willing to run their own networks? • Can CBRS practices be internationalized? • The near term outlook for CBRS Dave Wright, President, CBRS Alliance Dave is Director, Regulatory Affairs & Network Standards at Ruckus Networks. In addition to his role with Ruckus, Dave participates in a number of SDOs and ITOs and is currently the President of the CBRS Alliance. Dave is a champion of open spectrum, including both unlicensed and dynamic sharing frameworks, while acknowledging the vital role that all spectrum management regimes play in our increasingly wireless world. Dave began his odyssey in networking/telecom/mobile/wireless in the early ‘90s while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps. He then transitioned to the commercial sector as a systems engineer. In the intervening years, he has spent much of his time in technical marketing, standards development, and policy advocacy. Dave is a Cisco Certified Internetworking Expert (CCIE) Emeritus (#2062) as well as a Certified Wireless Network Administrator (CWNA).