Private CBRS network is deployed at Carnegie Mellon University

JMA Wireless, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Crown Castle launched a private LTE network for Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) using Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum. Plans for the project started in mid-2020, as CMU looked to upgrade cellular connectivity to support research at its Living Edge Lab on campus. Before embarking on the LTE upgrade, the university was already using a 4G private wireless network with a Band 42 3.5 GHz experimental license. The CBRS network took less than three months to construct and commission, and first went live in June 2021. The ability to utilize CBRS spectrum via unlicensed general authorized access (GAA) helped initiate the upgrade plans. A July blog by Jim Blakley, Living Edge Lab Associate Director, explained how the earlier LTE network delivered better latency than carriers could provide but was limited by coverage and a lack of commercially available devices at the time. Since then, the Federal Communications Commission opened up access to 3.5 GHz frequencies in the shared CBRS band through priority access licenses and GAA use. Federated Wireless is providing the spectrum access system (SAS) for the network. The SAS manages spectrum sharing in the CBRS band and providers are authorized by the FCC.