Revisiting Spectrum Screens to Enhance Spectrum Utilization

By  Sanjay Dhawan, VP of New Business Technology and Operations, SBA Communications

Note: This blog was produced under WIA’s Innovation and Technology Council (ITC). The ITC is the forum for forecasting the future of the wireless industry. Participants explore developments in the wider wireless industry, from 5G network monetization trends and streamlining infrastructure deployment to future spectrum needs and cell site power issues. The group is publishing a series of thought-leadership pieces throughout 2024. These views are not a WIA endorsement of a particular company, product, policy or technology.

The take-up of new 5G use cases, including Fixed Wireless Access, are driving additional spectrum needs across the board.  The entire wireless industry including mobile network operators (MNOs) and equipment vendors have highlighted this need for hundreds of megahertz of additional spectrum in multiple conferences, forums and federal filings, but no spectrum is expected to be forthcoming within the next few years. This has become more evident given ongoing spectrum discussions as well as recent publication of the White House National Spectrum Strategy and the Department of Defense EMBRSS Report on 3.1 – 3.45 GHz spectrum.

As the wireless industry has matured, it has seen consolidation toward three large nationwide network operators and one emerging nationwide network operator. During the 2G and 3G era (pre-2012), there were four large operators including AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint, four to five medium-sized operators including USCC, Metro PCS and Cricket, and more than 100 regional/rural operators. No single operator covered 99 percent of the US population via their own network deployment. Instead, large operators signed local roaming agreements with medium and regional/rural operators to achieve a nationwide footprint. In many cases, the regional and rural carriers even deployed spectrum on behalf of large operators.

During the past 10 years, the industry landscape has changed considerably. This is driven by the need to provide 99 percent coverage for 4G/5G services and high costs associated with network deployment and operation. The industry has thus evolved into three large operators with ~99 percent population coverage, one new operator (Dish) building a nationwide footprint, and a smaller number of regional operators.

MVNO models have become more applicable beyond the big four, with the Cable MSOs (Comcast, Charter, Altice and Cox) and Dish having successfully formed partnerships with nationwide MNOs, i.e., AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon, to enable a Fixed Broadband plus a wireless service offering for their customers. New scenarios have also emerged, including the automotive industry partnering with nationwide MNOs to enable IOT use cases, as well as Public Safety and Department of Defense starting to leverage networks built by wireless operators for their use cases and connectivity needs.

Spectrum screens were created at a time when the industry was highly disaggregated to ensure all parties had equitable access to the spectrum. Recent 600 MHz and 3.45 GHz auctions have shown that given some of the limits associated with spectrum acquisition or holdings, only a portion of the spectrum gets acquired by wireless operators and in turn there is an increase in spectrum acquisition by investors.  While operators deploy most of the spectrum within three to four years of acquisition, that is not always the case with some of the other holders, whose objective is to hold and sell later to the operators at a premium.

The shift in the wireless landscape is also apparent with companies such as UScellular, which has been primarily focused on providing wireless services to smaller cities, towns, and rural areas in the central part of the country, having a desire to reshape itself from an operator to an infrastructure company.  UScellular would like to maximize the value of its spectrum assets by reinvesting the proceeds in other areas, however, given the current spectrum screen in place, it is challenging for any Tier 1 operator to acquire UScellular spectrum without exceeding one or more screens in multiple markets.

We are at a stage where every available megahertz of spectrum needs to be deployed such that 5G speeds and services can enhance the user experience to 100 percent of the U.S. population. Thus, we as an industry should revisit aspects of regulation with the view of maximizing spectrum utilization and deployments as quickly as it becomes available.

The Federal Communications Commission has done a great job in helping the U.S.  take a 5G leadership position as an early adopter of 5G and driving innovation across multiple industries. 

The time has come to drive further enablement of 5G and 6G services by getting all unused spectrum to those operators or utilities that have the highest need to deploy and in turn serve their users in the best possible way.  The time has come to revisit the spectrum screens and redefine them to serve the best interest of all Americans.