Nokia has announced a new CBRS offering, partnering with newly authorized Spectrum Access System operator Key Bridge for an integrated private network solution with an emphasis on reliability and simplicity.
Key Bridge received authorization from the Federal Communications Commission within the past month as a SAS operator and has both a SAS offering and an Environmental Sensing Capability (ESC) network of coastal sensors to detect intermittent incumbent use by ship-mounted naval radar systems.
Tristan Barraud DeLagerie, who leads CBRS solution marketing at Nokia, said that the offering is aimed at Priority Access License holders who spent a combined $4.58 billion on PALs when they were auctioned last year, companies who may access the spectrum via General Authorized Access, as well as CSPs and for network-as-a-service offerings to enterprises who may sub-lease PALs.
Barraud DeLagerie sees two main reasons for a carrier to use CBRS: To expand the coverage and capacity of its own network, and to address the needs of industry.
“One of the key benefits we see of the integrated approach is that, based on our experience with industries … they don’t want to integrate different pieces of components,” Barraud DeLagerie said. “They want a solution approach, so this is what we’re offering them with this partnership with Key Bridge.”
In particular, he said, innovative algorithms from Nokia Bell Labs help to ensure the reliability of the private network, such as the ability to failover to a second SAS in case of loss of connectivity. The offering also includes a domain proxy capability, installed on-site as a cloud-native micro-service, which can aggregate multiple radio links to simplify the SAS connectivity in networks with a large number of access points. Barraud DeLagerie said that because the private wireless network is integrated with both Key Bridge’s SAS and ESC, it is possible to optimize the performance of the ESC sensors in relation to the private network. He gave the example of an enterprise wanting to deploy a CBRS in a coastal region and relying on an ESC network with sensors that happen to be far away from its location, detections of incumbent activity at the sensors’ locations may interfere with the private network’s operation even though there may not be actual interference. In Nokia’s case, he said, the system is optimized for sensitivity and “georelevancy”, and ESC sensors could even be installed near coastal private network operators to have even more precise information on whether a private network operator needs to clear the spectrum for incumbent use.
In its release, Nokia points out a Dell’Oro Group forecast that sees the CBRS Radio Access Network market hitting $2 billion by 2025; Barraud DeLagerie said that Nokia’s internal forecasts are in line with market predictions.
Nokia has already supported around a dozen CBRS deployments using the General Authorized Access (GAA) to the shared spectrum, with customers including utilities, ports and education. “The leadership we have in private wireless is going to be really useful and a benefit for the CBRS networks,” he said.
Last fall, Verizon Business announced an initiative to sell private 5G wireless network solutions in Europe and Asia in partnership with Nokia; around the same time, AT&T and Nokia announced that they would be jointly marketing private networks in the U.S. using CBRS spectrum and Nokia infrastructure. Nokia noted in its announcement that both its Nokia Digital Automation Cloud and Modular Private Wireless platforms will be offered by AT&T.
Stephan Litjens, VP of enterprise solutions for Nokia Cloud and Network, said that the integrated offering provides “a new standard in ease of use” with “unparalleled robustness.”
CBRS presents a huge opportunity for CSPs, MSOs and enterprises for deployment of private wireless networks and to build the platform for new use cases that drive Industry 4.0 implementation,” Litjens added.
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