CBRS Is Now OnGo; Alliance Hopes It Will Be the New Wi-Fi

The CBRS Alliance, promoting the future use of the 3.5 GHz citizens broadband radio service band, Tuesday launched the OnGo brand and a certification program for CBRS devices. Last month, the alliance unveiled network and coexistence baseline specifications. “I would compare this to Wi-Fi,” CBRS Alliance President Dave Wright said in an interview. “Everybody knows what Wi-Fi means. It’s a very versatile brand. It applies to all kinds of different applications of a technology and use cases.”

The alliance sees the brand as the name consumers will use as the 3.5 GHz band is opened for business, Wright said. “It’s a much cleaner message than the [CBRS] acronym was,” he said. The alliance shifted focus, from outreach to the wireless industry, to potential users of the band, Wright said. The alliance is presenting at an upcoming hospitality industry conference, he said. “We’ll be talking to the Hyatts and Hiltons and Marriotts of the world about what does OnGo mean to you,” he said. “How does this help you provide a better guest experience. … We’ll be doing much more of that.”

“OnGo represents uncompromised wireless connectivity -- enabled by spectrum sharing in the 3.5 GHz band -- that will fuel innovation in industrial IoT applications and expand indoor and outdoor coverage and capacity for new Private LTE and neutral host business opportunities,” the alliance said. CTIA is administering the process through certified labs, the alliance said.

“OnGo will allow me to more easily articulate the many innovative business opportunities that will unfold as a result of opening the 3.5 GHz band for commercial sharing, significantly streamlining conversations within the real estate industry,” said Cris Kimbrough, senior vice president-building technology services at CBRE. “There’s strong pent-up demand for businesses that want better LTE coverage" that's inexpensive, said Joe Madden, founder of Mobile Experts, which is studying the market for the alliance. He said OnGo costs about 40 cents a square foot.

The CBRS Alliance had six founding members when it launched less than two years ago and now has 89, said Wright, Ruckus Networks director-regulatory affairs and network standards. “We felt like we really needed to think more seriously about the branding,” he told us. “It is early days, but there is a good deal of awareness.”

The FCC hasn't wrapped up its work on the 3.5 GHz band. The big question has been the geographic size of priority access licenses (PALs) that are one of the three tiers of the band (see 1802130041), along with general authorized access (GAA) users and federal incumbents who must be protected.

Delays on the rules haven’t dampened enthusiasm, Wright said. “We would love for this proceeding to be resolved and the final order to be issued as soon as possible, but that’s really in the commission’s hands,” he said. GAA users know what the rules are for them, he said. The PAL auction still must make into it into the auction queue, but that’s unlikely before next year, Wright said. GAA use could start earlier, he said. “The commission has signaled that they’re open to that sort of an approach … to begin operation of the band at the GAA tier,” he said. “We’ll definitely see GAA first.” Wright hopes the first OnGo devices will be ready for display at January's CES.