A half-dozen firms can doubtlessly spend $80 billion for C-Band, a brand new set of airwaves that promise to repair the perilous state of American 5G.
That is an enormous sum of money, and it reveals how necessary C-Band is. However, what’s C-Band, and what does it imply for 5G? Do you want a C-Band telephone? Is C-Band a brand new frequency? Do you have to be petrified of C-Band? I can clarify it.
Recovering the Satellites
In keeping with wi-fi testing agency Rohde and Schwarz, the C-band is all frequencies between Four and 8GHz. When US wi-fi geeks speak about C-Band, although, they’re talking about 3.7 to 4.2GHz—and significantly, in this case, they vary from 3.7 to three.98GHz.
This frequency had been used for satellite tv for pc TV because the 1970s, however as C-Band satellite tv for pc reception requires “large, ugly dishes” as much as 10 ft in diameter, it bought mainly changed by extra versatile programs with smaller dishes on the Ku band, comparable to Dish and DirecTV. C-Band is presently used for the “satellite tv for pc downlink” for broadcast tv distribution.
With extra superior digital encoding strategies than they’d within the 1970s, the satellite tv for pc firms can now “repack” their broadcasts into the higher portion of the C-Band, leaving the decrease portion obtainable for mobile firms to make use of.
C-Band sits between the two wi-fi bands, which are at 2.4GHz and 5GHz. It is barely above and similar to the two.6GHz band that Clearwire, after which Dash used for 4G beginning in 2007, and which T-Cell presently uses for mid-band 5G. And it sits instantly above CBRS, a band from 3.55-3.7GHz that is currently being deployed for 4G. So its transmission traits are very well-known, and its security is nicely established.
A lot of the remainder of the world began to public sell-off C-Band already; by way of various international locations, it is most likely the preferred 5G band on the planet. The Worldwide Telecommunication Union (ITU) chopped C-Band up into three chunks: band n77, band n78, and band n79. Most European and Asian international locations presently use n78, which stretches from 3.Three to three.8GHz. We within the US will use n77, a bigger band from 3.Three to 4.2GHz. Japan additionally already makes use of n77, so tools and telephones are on the market.
Why Do We Want C-Band?
The state of 5G within the US is relatively authoritarian proper now. For 5G to supply noticeably higher expertise than 4G, it wants broad, devoted channels, ideally 50MHz or more general. For 5G to cowl entire cities, it must be on a frequency beneath about 6GHz, so it will possibly get good vary from towers. Proper now, AT&T and Verizon don’t have any airwaves that match these payments. (T-Cell does.) So AT&T and Verizon are delivering 5G that is both no sooner than LTE could be on the identical frequencies or has low vary.
C-Band can repair this. The federal government is auctioning 280MHz of airwaves, which might be more likely to go as much as a few half-mile from every tower, so loads of bandwidth for several different wi-fi carriers to have strong 5G utilizing mainly present cell websites.
An estimate of three.5GHz cell protection within the capital of Slovenia.
Cell distance is a challenging factor. This paper from 2006 estimates that 3.5GHz networks can go as much as 1.2 miles from every website in city space and as much as 6.2 miles in a rural area. In keeping with CellMapper.com, there are as many as 2.5 miles between T-Cell’s 2.6GHz websites in suburban Dallas; however, solely 0.6 miles between websites the place I dwell in Queens, New York. So I am saying a half-mile for the three.5GHz networks to be secure.
Who Desires C-Band?
In keeping with Mild Studying, the highest C-Band bidders are Verizon, AT&T, Comcast, and Constitution (collectively, in a three-way partnership), T-Cell, US Mobile, and Dish.
These are all both cellular community suppliers or cable firms. They’ve all expressed curiosity in operating their very own 5G networks at some unspecified time in the future. Whereas the cable firms do not run their very own cellular networks but (they resell service on Verizon’s community), they may construct their very own or lease their spectrum to one of many three leading wi-fi carriers in a partnership.
What Telephones Assist C-Band?
For a telephone to assist US C-Band, it wants two elements. It’s {hardware} should assist it, and it has to be authorized by the FCC to work on it. If the {hardware} helps it, but it indeed does not but has FCC approval, the telephone’s maker can file for a “class 2 change” with the FCC. However, they need to do it. Telephone makers typically select not to file for modifications due to their value cash; they’d legally make a more recent mannequin and promote that.
There is a little bit of a debate whether {hardware} assist means band n77 or n78 showing on a spec sheet, as the US C-Band components fall inside n78. If a provider solely wins segments inside the n78 group, n78 telephones will most likely work for them. That might open up a possible more comprehensive vary of telephones, as additional telephones presently have n78 than n77.
iPhone 12 household
The iPhone 12 household are the primary telephones authorized by the FCC for C-Band.
The iPhone 12 sequence is the primary US telephones authorized by the FCC for C-Band. The Google Pixel 5 has C-Band on its spec sheet, but it indeed hasn’t been allowed to be used on C-Band by the FCC but. The same goes for a lot of international telephones; they could have n77 or n78. However, they have not been cleared for US use on these frequencies by the FCC.
I anticipate the Samsung Galaxy S21 and lots of different telephones launched in 2021 will assist C-Band.
When Will C-Band 5G Occur?
The present C-Band public sale will run till the bidders do not wish to bid anymore, which is more likely to be someday in January or February 2021.
The C-Band frequencies are being auctioned off in 14 chunks of 20MHz every. The primary 5, 100MHz referred to as the “A block,” is a compelling (and most costly) result of satellite tv for pc firms may be paid to clear them for 5G use by the top of 2021. Mobile companies can begin constructing their networks earlier than the frequencies are removed to be used, so we’ll probably see the primary C-Band programs at the finish of 2021 or the start of 2022.
The opposite 180MHz within the C-Band is just scheduled to be cleared by the top of 2023. That might put different networks on a late 2023 or 2024 launch. These launches could occur earlier in 2023 although if the precedent from the 600MHz band holds. T-Cell took a lot of the 600MHz band, which was beforehand TV channels 14-55, in 2017. That had a clearance schedule that went out to July 2020. However, T-Cell labored with (and paid) broadcasters to clear early, getting New York Metropolis cleared greater than 12 months earlier than it was speculated to, as an illustration.
Do I Want a C-Band Telephone?
Proper now, deciding whether or not you want a C-Band telephone is about making an attempt to foresee whether your provider will launch a C-Band community earlier than you get a brand new phone.
For Verizon, I believe that the provider goes in large on C-Band and may have main C-Band launches in late 2021 and early 2022. In case you intend to maintain a brand new telephone for greater than 12 months, it could help get a C-Band phone on Verizon.
For T-Cell, you do not want C-Band. T-Cell is not making giant funding within the frequency.
For AT&T, you do not want C-Band now. I believe AT&T will, by and enormous, go for the later clearing chunks of C-Band, which implies you may need it in your 2024 telephone.
We’ll monitor the C-Band developments right here on and let you know whether or not it is obtainable on each 2021 telephone.
