Band 48 Devices: What You Need To Know For Telecommunications Management

Band 48 devices operate within the CBRS gateway. They are installed on houses and businesses to help deliver video, voice, data, and IoT communications to a wired access network. This includes both Wi-Fi connections and Ethernet-LAN connections. Within this framework, the Band 48 device will act as a gateway of sorts so that equipment can operate within both the 4G and 5G spaces.

What Are Band 48 Devices?

Band 48 Devices or Band 48 CBRS (Citizen’s Broadband Radio Service) is often called a private LTE. It falls within the frequency band of 3.5GHz. In the United States and most of the world, this falls into the LTE spectrum.

LTE technology is a modernized range that serves a wider range than others, covering 450 MHz up to 3.8GHz. It supports both FDD (Frequency Division Duplex) and TDD (Time Division Duplex).

ETI Software can help in many other areas of Band 48 device management,  Band 48  software upgrades, and more. ETI’s Unified Device Management software can help telecommunications companies visualize problems related to these devices and ensure that companies stay in compliance. For example, Unified Device Management helps companies to see where their customers are in relation to the towers they have and the spectrums. They are able to track the service they are getting works properly and remains at consistent speeds.

What Are The Benefits Of Using Band 48?

There are a few different reasons why telecommunications companies and other organizations want to use Band 48 devices. They tend to have better capacity so that they can carry more devices at the same time, making them work over larger distances. They also provide optimized services that reduce customer churn and lead to improved bandwidth and latency.

Band 48 devices have been manufactured so that they have interoperability, which means that they can communicate with each other regardless of who manufactures them. Of course, since this is a new technology, people are still learning about all of the benefits of Band 48 devices, but it seems clear that switching is a good idea.

Band 48 & CBRS Auctions

Telecommunications companies that want to use Band 48 devices and CBRS need to win “auctions” for Priority Access Licenses or PALs. These licenses allow them to provide services in specific areas, usually counties where they can have significant control over the spectrum.

If a business wants to offer services in a specific area, they will need to hold a license. While that business won’t have control of the entire spectrum, they will have a distinct advantage. Within these licenses, there are some specific legalities and regulations that you need to understand.

For telecommunications companies who plan to upgrade to Band 48 devices and take advantage of the CBRS spectrum, our TR-069 ACS driven system can help. Whether you are already taking advantage of it, or you want to complete a CBRS migration, our monitoring is top-of-the-industry. Click here to learn more.

Band 48 GAA: General Authorized Access Spectrum

The General Authorized Access (GAA) spectrum is the most popular one and it is free for Band 48 devices for those who are willing to stick to the rules of usage. Anyone can use this spectrum as long as they are not using it for military purposes, interfering with PAL license, or are incumbent users.

The FCC uses this spectrum to provide people with upgrades to their internet service and/or internet access when they cannot afford it on their own. It is largely used in rural and urban areas where children need to use the internet for schooling. There are some usage limitations.

Spectrum Access System

There are a few things that telecommunications companies have issues with here. They need to participate in something called “spectrum sharing,” which means that they are working within the same spectrum as other companies. This isn’t new, it has been used for years in satellite applications, AM/FM broadcasts, and military use. Within spectrum access, the same frequency can be used and reused by different locations as long as they are not closely connected. Meaning a few communities can use the same spectrum.

We call this “Time Sharing,” which is when the same channels of CBRS can be used by the same locations. There aren’t any problems as long as they are not being utilized at the same time. This is coordinated by the Spectrum Access System or SAS. They ensure that every user has good access to the spectrum and that the access is appropriate and effective.  The SAS also works to provide frequency and service protection for their respective users.

Now, there is a challenge in all of this: WISPs need to be able to monitor their SINR (signal-to-interference-ratio) constantly to ensure that they are meeting all of the rules and regulations. They need to monitor and track this so that they can estimate the theoretical upper bounds on channel capacity (or the rate of information transfer) in wireless communications. WISPs need to know if something goes wrong and they need to intervene to ensure that their clients have the services they need – and pay for.

How Can ETI Help With Band 48 Device Management?

ETI Software’s device management platform, Unified Device Management, can help. Unified Device Management gives telecommunications companies the ability to coordinate operations between known SAS info and real RF stats. Unified Device Management then tracks SINR by cross-referencing radio stats over time with EARFCN ( E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number). No matter how the SAS changes or shifts, Unified Device Management can help keep track of devices and their usage and help to catch problems before they happen. Band 48 Migration and monitoring is one of many examples where remote device management is a time and cost saver for WISPs.