Inside the CBRS Ecosystem

A quick look into what makes up the Innovation Band produced by the Wireless Innovation Forum Spectrum Sharing Committee
Updated August 2023; will be updated quarterly

Download the infographic here

Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is the 3550-3700 MHz spectrum band allocated for public use by the FCC. The underlying standards for this three-tiered access system have been developed by the Wireless Innovation Forum (WInnForum), a multi-stakeholder group. Below is a window into the ecosystem.

CBRS by the Numbers
278k+ deployed CBSDs
$4.6 billion bid in CBRS PAL Auction
>350 FCC Approved CBSD models
>5.6k CPIs
>17k PALs

Approved Vendors

  • Certified Professional Installer Training Programs: 5
    To meet the FCC Part 96 rules, CPIs must be trained and certified. The Forum's CPI Accreditation Standard provides guidelines for this procedure.
  • Root CA Operators: 4
    Subscribers should install all WInnForum authorized CBRS Root CA certificates in their device trust anchor stores to validate received certificates.
  • WInnForum Accredited Testing and Certification Labs: 16
    To be FCC certified to operate in the CBRS Band, an equipment manufacturer will need to show that their CBSD can communicate with a Spectrum Access System and follow its directives as per Part 96.

The PAL Bidders

  • Winners
    Enterprise Users: 15
    Misc: 30
    MSO/MNO/MVNO: 22
    Utilities: 14
    WISPs: 85
    Local Telco: 61
  • PALs Purchased
    Enterprise Users: 185
    Misc: 1,242
    MSO/MNO/MVNO: 14,328
    Utilities: 503
    WISPs: 2,013
    Local Telco: 2,323