SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The CBRS Alliance announced today that Accelleran, Airspan Networks, American Tower Corp., AT&T, Baicells, CableLabs, Ericsson, ExteNet Systems, Nsight, Ranzure Networks, Rise Broadband, and ZTE USA have joined the Alliance to drive technology development and adoption of LTE-based solutions for the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS). These companies represent the wide range of ecosystem partners that will accelerate innovation and spur economic growth.
In February 2016, six wireless technology leaders announced their commitment to build an ecosystem of industry participants and make LTE-based solutions in the CBRS band widely available. In August, these companies unveiled the launch of the CBRS Alliance to develop, market and promote LTE-based solutions utilizing the shared spectrum of the U.S. 3.5 GHz CBRS band. The six companies — Access Technologies (Alphabet), Federated Wireless, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm and Ruckus Wireless (now part of Brocade) — believe that access to LTE-based solutions in the US 3.5 GHz frequency band will be a critical tool to meet rapidly expanding wireless data demands.
“For LTE-based solutions in the shared CBRS band to be successful, we need a wide range of ecosystem partners, infrastructure, equipment and network providers, to work together closely,” said Michael Peeters, vice president Innovation Portfolio, Nokia and President of the CBRS Alliance. “We are thrilled to welcome all the new members to the CBRS Alliance and look forward to working together to provide solutions toward in-building and outdoor cellular coverage.”
“CBRS is creating opportunities to bring the benefits of LTE technology to a wider ecosystem,” said Neville Meijers, VP Business Development, Qualcomm Technologies Inc., and chairman of the board for the CBRS Alliance. “CBRS enables new kinds of deployments and business models, from LTE-based neutral hosts that can serve multiple service providers, to dedicated networks serving various entities such as enterprises or IoT verticals.”
Back in April 2015, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted rules for CBRS, which opens 150 MHz of spectrum (3550-3700 MHz) for commercial use — while providing necessary protection of incumbent users of the band. Spectrum access is actively coordinated based on priority and granular location, making previously allocated spectrum available to new entrants and services.
To learn more about the CBRS Alliance, and to find out how you can become a member, please visit http://www.cbrsalliance.org/.
ABOUT ACCELLERAN
Accelleran is the Cellular industry’s recognized Software and IPR Design leader in 4G Small Cells. It is a private company founded at the beginning of 2013 by a team of veterans of the Small Cell industry to deliver best-in-class Small Cell LTE software and design solutions. With an average experience of more than 20 years, the team has been active in Small Cell development for most of the past decade. Company news and updates are also posted at: www.twitter.com/accelleran
ABOUT AIRSPAN
Airspan has been at the forefront of breakthrough RAN solutions and technologies and has deep in-house expertise in LTE and LTE Advanced, OFDMA, Wi-Fi and VoIP, Airspan is able to exploit synergies and come up with innovative products and solutions that closely integrate these technologies in the most beneficial ways for customers. Airspan is also looking forward to the future with the development of solution that combine Small Cells with Gbit/s backhaul and Virtualization, which will be the basis of its 5G products and solutions.
ABOUT AMERICAN TOWER
American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of approximately 97,000 communications sites. For more information about American Tower and this transaction, please visit the Company & Industry Resources portion of the “Investor Relations” section of our website, www.americantower.com.
ABOUT AT&T INC.
AT&T Inc. helps millions around the globe connect with leading entertainment, mobile, high speed internet and voice services. We’re the world’s largest provider of pay TV. We have TV customers in the U.S. and 11 Latin American countries. And we help businesses worldwide serve their customers better with our mobility and highly secure cloud solutions. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at about.att.com.
ABOUT BAICELLS
Baicells is a privately-held, high-tech company dedicated to wireless broadband access solutions. Our main products and solutions cover indoor and outdoor small cells, CPEs, antennas, etc. With the vision to connect the unconnected, Baicells has introduced some real breakthrough technologies to the LTE system, like moving a complete LTE system to unlicensed spectrum and building it with an IT-based architecture. With Baicells’ turnkey end-to-end solutions, it becomes much easier to provide wireless internet within everyone’s reach at a very low cost.
ABOUT CABLELABS
CableLabs is a non-profit Innovation and R&D Lab founded in 1988 by members of the cable television industry. With a strong focus on innovation, CableLabs develops technologies and specifications for the secure delivery of high speed data, video, voice and next generation services. It also provides testing, certification facilities and technical leadership for the industry. CableLabs mission is to enable cable operators to be the providers of choice to their customers. Cable operators from around the world are members. For more information, please visit www.CableLabs.com.
ABOUT ERICSSON
Ericsson is the driving force behind the Networked Society - a world leader in communications technology and services. Our long-term relationships with every major telecom operator in the world allow people, business and society to fulfill their potential and create a more sustainable future. Our services, software and infrastructure - especially in mobility, broadband and the cloud - are enabling the telecom industry and other sectors to do better business, increase efficiency, improve the user experience and capture new opportunities.
ABOUT EXTENET SYSTEMS, INC.
Lisle, IL-based ExteNet Systems, Inc. designs, builds, owns and operates distributed networks for use by wireless carriers and property owners in key markets. Using distributed antenna systems (DAS), remote radio heads (RRH), small cells, Wi-Fi, software-defined network (SDN) based Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and other technologies, ExteNet deploys solutions to enhance wireless service and network performance across both outdoor and indoor environments. Primary markets include outdoor distributed networks in a variety of densely occupied urban and suburban environments as well as selected rural areas, and various indoor properties, including sports and entertainment venues, hotels and convention centers, commercial office buildings, healthcare facilities and transit systems. For more information, please visit www.extenetsystems.com.
ABOUT NSIGHT
Nsight is the parent company of Cellcom, Nsight Telservices, and Nsight Tower. The family of companies provides complete telecommunications services, including wireless and fiber-based services to residential and business customers, along with tower erection and maintenance services in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
ABOUT RANZURE NETWORKS
Founded by industry veterans with extensive experience in virtualized LTE core networks and Radio Access technologies – Ranzure is focused on paving the way for seamless superfast 5G networks. Ranzure is backed by LiveOak Venture Partners and Mitel. In addition to the funding from Mitel, Ranzure Networks will license Mitel Mobile technology in the area of Evolved Packet Core to support service providers as they build 5G networks for the Internet of Things. Ranzure is based in Richardson, Texas, with additional development centers in Ottawa, Canada and Bengaluru, India. Visit www.ranzure.com for more information.
ABOUT RISE BROADBAND
Rise Broadband is the nation’s largest fixed wireless Internet service provider; offering affordable high-speed broadband (Internet and phone) services in 16 states with speeds ranging between 3 Mbps and 1 Gbps. Established in 2005 as JAB Wireless, Inc., Rise serves nearly 200,000 residential /commercial accounts in rural and suburban areas throughout the Midwest, Rocky Mountain and Southwest regions. The company also offers DISH TV service throughout its coverage area. Rise Broadband is headquartered in metro Denver. For more information, visit www.RiseBroadband.com.
ABOUT ZTE USA
ZTE USA (www.zteusa.com), headquartered in Richardson, Texas, is a subsidiary of ZTE Corporation, a global provider of mobile devices, telecommunication systems, and enterprise solutions. Operating since 1998, ZTE USA is dedicated to making cost-efficient, quality communication technology accessible to all. ZTE is ranked by independent industry analysts as the fourth-largest supplier of mobile devices in the U.S. overall, and second-largest supplier of prepaid devices.