US Government to Offer Greater 5G Access With CBRS Allocation Reduction

Several U.S. federal agencies have opened up the 3.5 GHz band, increasing consumer access to 5G and high-speed internet. 

The effort saw the Federal Communications Commission, the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration and the Department of the Navy modify the aggregate interference model used in the 3.5 GHz band, reducing the spectrum allotted for the Citizens Broadband Radio Services and providing commercial telecommunications greater access to the 3.5 GHz spectrum band while protecting classified information, the FCC said.

DON Chief Information Officer Jane Overslaugh Rathbun, a 2024 Wash100 winner and past Potomac Officers Club event speaker, said that the Navy is committed to improving its sharing capabilities with industry partners to achieve a proper balance between national economic and defense priorities

The FCC allotted a 150 MHz band for the CBRS, specifically for property managers wanting to deploy private LTE networks. In 2021, the Department of Defense, with the help of Federated Wireless, deployed CBRS-enabled private 5G networks to modernize the Marine Corps Logistics Command’s warehouse operations.