Ericsson Multiband Radio Waiver Would Speed 5G Deployment: Industry
Ericsson got support from carriers, and other gear-makers, for its request for a waiver allowing the company to offer a multiband radio across the 3.45 GHz and C bands, both auctioned by the FCC for 5G. The waiver would allow 3.45 GHz emissions within the 3.7-4.0 GHz block to comply with C-band out-of-band emissions (OOBE) levels. Commenters said the change could mean faster deployment of 5G. Comments were posted Wednesday in docket 22-298.
T-Mobile said the waiver would allow a carrier invested in both bands “to use a single multiband radio that takes advantage of carrier aggregation technology.” Carrier aggregation would “enhance spectrum utilization and help provide better services to customers,” T-Mobile said.
Carrier aggregation “boosts network performance by extending coverage, delivering faster connection speeds, and providing increased capacity,” T-Mobile said: “Because carrier aggregation will limit the number of separate radios and antenna placements, carriers’ deployment costs will be lower, which will promote buildout more quickly and to more areas across the United States, particularly in the face of continuing supply chain delays.” The waiver would also promote global harmonization of equipment since several nations have “allocated all or most of the 3.4-3.8 GHz band for 5G,” T-Mobile said.
AT&T also supported the request. “Multiband equipment like that proposed by Ericsson would have significant advantages for carriers operating both 3.45 GHz and 3.7 GHz spectrum from the same cell site,” AT&T commented. Use of multiband radios would mean “a much smaller cell site footprint than would be required for separate 3.45 GHz and 3.7 GHz radios, resulting in lower lease costs, less tower loading, fewer site visits, easier zoning clearance, and less visual impacts for quicker National Historic Preservation Act compliance,” the carrier said.
“Absent the availability of Ericsson’s proposed multiband radio, service providers … would be forced to use separate radios for their 3.45 GHz Band and 3.7 GHz Band operations, which would increase their equipment and installation costs, and possibly even require additional site acquisitions and approvals, which would significantly delay network deployment in one of these bands,” UScellular said, largely echoing comments by other carriers. UScellular said it received clarification from Ericsson that the radios don’t require use of carrier aggregation software. “UScellular’s plans also require the use of dual or multiband radios for load balancing and capacity without carrier aggregation,” it said.
Granting the petition would be “a step to support mid-band 5G deployment in the United States,” said Samsung Electronics America. “For the same reasons” the FCC should grant its similar petition, Samsung said: “In each case, grant of the requested waivers will enable the marketing and operation of innovative, multiband radios, which, in turn, will facilitate further 5G deployments in the mid-band, and, in each case, this objective can be achieved without any countervailing public interest harm.”
Qualcomm supported the waiver but said it may not be necessary. FCC rules allow a composite system, such as Ericsson’s multiband radio, “to operate both radiating sources simultaneously so long as the ‘measured emissions of the composite system [do not] exceed the highest level permitted for an individual component,’” Qualcomm said: “In this case, the OOBE levels for the 3.7 GHz band are more permissive than the levels for the 3.45 GHz band, and when the multiband radio is simultaneously operating in both service bands, the radio complies with highest level permitted for an individual component, i.e., the 3.7 GHz OOBE levels.”
Open radio access network company Mavenir said it’s also considering developing multiband radios in the 3.45 GHz and C-band and would benefit from a similar waiver. “Grant of the requested waiver will pave the way for the development of innovative, flexible, more energy-efficient, and more economical base stations,” Mavenir said.