An Analysis of Aggregate CBRS SAS Data from April 2021 to July 2024
Executive Summary
This NTIA report on the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) presents updated aggregate use data through mid-2024, revealing continued growth in CBRS device deployments.
The CBRS band at 3550–3700 MHz was authorized in 2015 for shared commercial use in the United States through the efforts of the Department of Defense (DoD), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA). A unique aspect of CBRS was the introduction of Dynamic Protection Areas (DPAs) around which commercial entrants can dynamically share spectrum with protected incumbents. Dynamic sharing is enabled by automated Spectrum Access Systems (SASs), which, among other tasks, manage the operation of new entrants to protect incumbent users from harmful interference. CBRS aimed to facilitate growth in wireless broadband devices, provide cost-effective wireless broadband access for rural communities, create new jobs and businesses, increase productivity, spur innovation, and improve public safety.
To quantify progress towards meeting these goals, the NTIA’s Institute for Telecommunication Sciences (ITS) obtained operational data from the SAS administrators on a quarterly basis. ITS first presented and carried out longitudinal analysis on these data in 2023.1 This report provides an updated presentation and analysis of the quarterly data from April 1, 2021, to July 1, 2024.
An Analysis of Aggregate CBRS SAS Data from April 2021 to July 2024
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Nationwide numbers of Citizens Broadband Radio Service Devices (CBSDs) by quarter are provided, broken down into the following categories: type (i.e., Category A or B), installation type (i.e., indoor or outdoor), license tier (i.e., Priority Access, General Authorized Access, or both), air interface, and location type (i.e., urban or rural). Nationwide numbers of active grants by quarter are broken down by license tier, maximum allowed radiated power, bandwidth, and channel usage. Choropleth maps illustrate categorical CBSD statistics by state and county. Mean band utilization, defined as the mean number of channels granted per county, is used to quantify the amount of newly available spectrum that is used across the country. Finally, CBSD counts and band utilization within DPA-impacted and non-impacted counties are compared to examine the CBRS spectrum sharing approach. The following are key findings from this analysis:
- CBRS deployments have grown significantly, with an increase of 270,621 from April 1, 2021, to July 1, 2024. Annual increases in 2022 and 2023 were 95,692 and 78,058, respectively.
- Rural CBSDs have more than doubled with an increase of 166,650 (160.6%), and on July 1, 2024, 67.5% of all CBSDs were in rural census blocks.
- In 2023, there were more new CBSD deployments in DPA-impacted counties (46,583) than in non-impacted counties (31,482).
- 5G New Radio CBSD deployments increased to 11.9% of active CBSDs on July 1, 2024.
- GAA-only CBSDs accounted for 57.6% of the increase in CBSDs; on July 1, 2024, 71.4% of the CBSDs were GAA-only and 94.9% of all CBSDs had GAA grants. Since July 1, 2021, the number of CBSDs with PAL grants increased by 92,544 CBSDs (418%) to a total of 114,682 CBSDs on July 1, 2024.
- On July 1, 2024, 82.7% of all counties in the United States used at least one channel of CBRS and 41% of all counties used all 15 channels.
An Analysis of Aggregate CBRS SAS Data From April 2021 to July 2024
Technical Report
By Douglas M. Boulware,2 Anthony W. Romaniello2
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Alan Davidson
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information
National Telecommunications and Information Administration
This report presents an analysis of aggregate Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) Spectrum Access System (SAS) data reported quarterly from April 1, 2021, to July 1, 2024. The data provide insights into the growth of CBRS, the impact of dynamic spectrum sharing, the role of General Authorized Access (GAA) usage, and CBRS’s role in rural and urban wireless connectivity. From April 1, 2021, to July 1, 2024, the number of active CBRS Devices (CBSDs) nationwide increased by 270,621 to 400,403. Over the same period, more CBSDs were deployed within Dynamic Protection Area (DPA)–impacted counties than non-impacted counties, increasing the number of active CBSDs in DPA-impacted counties to 198,864. The number of CBSDs with Priority Access License (PAL) grants grew to 114,682, but GAA CBSDs dominated deployments. On July 1, 2024, 71.4% of active CBSDs were GAA-only, 82.3% of active grants were GAA, 82.2% of CBSDs with a PAL also had at least one active GAA grant, and 67.5% of all active CBSDs were deployed in rural census blocks.
Keywords: 3550–3700 MHz; 5G; cellular; Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS); Citizens Broadband Radio Service Device (CBSD); rural connectivity; Spectrum Access System (SAS); spectrum management; spectrum sharing; spectrum utilization; urban connectivity
Introduction
In 2015, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) established spectrum-sharing rules [1], governing commercial use of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) in the U.S. from 3550 MHz to 3700 MHz. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Department of Defense (DoD) have worked with the FCC as it has implemented the rules. CBRS established a new spectrum-sharing paradigm, enabling commercial access to spectrum with a collaborative partnership among stakeholders in government and industry.
Given the novelty of this spectrum sharing approach, it is important to regularly assess the state and growth of CBRS. In March 2021, NTIA requested that Spectrum Access System (SAS) administrators submit operational data on a quarterly basis to facilitate longitudinal analysis. In 2023, NTIA provided an analysis of aggregate SAS data from April 1, 2021, through January 1, 2023, [2]. This report extends the analysis to include data up to July 1, 2024. Section 2 gives an overview of the aggregate SAS data. Sections 3, 4, and 5 provide nationwide, state-level, and county-level statistics and maps to quantify and characterize the current state and ongoing growth of CBRS, and Section 6 provides a summary of conclusions drawn from the data.
Data Collection
NTIA coordinated with the SAS administrators and the FCC to determine data that would be appropriate for sharing with federal regulators to support this study. To facilitate data quality and anonymization requirements, ITS developed a Python script that the SAS administrators used to build aggregate datasets from the SAS full activity dump (FAD), which includes CBSD registration and grant data.
The script aggregates CBSD grant data for each census block nationwide, but in each quarterly dataset the script failed to resolve the census block location of a small number of CBSDs. In each dataset the percentage of CBSDs with unresolved locations represented less than 0.1% of the total number of CBSDs. The data for these CBSDs were still included in the aggregate data and thus are still included in all nationwide statistics in Section 3 except the urban and rural statistics. CBSDs in unknown census block locations are not included in the state and county statistics and maps. The number of CBSDs in each quarterly dataset for which the census block could not be resolved are detailed as “Unknown” within the “Location Type” attribute in Table 1. For additional information on the aggregate data see [2].
1 D. Boulware et al., “An Analysis of Aggregate CBRS SAS Data from April 2021 to January 2023,” NTIA Technical Report TR-23-567 (May 2023). [Online] [Accessed 28 May 2024]
2 The authors are with the Institute for Telecommunication Sciences, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, Boulder, CO 80305.