US CBRS Device Adoption in 2024: Which Industry Dominates?

CBRS, or Citizens Broadband Radio Service, is 150 MHz of unlicensed spectrum, ranging from 3550-3700 MHz in the 3.5 GHz band, that the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) has designated for sharing among three tiers of users, including private and federal users.

The core of CBRS infrastructure is CBSDs (CBRS Devices), which are fixed stations or access points that operate according to CBRS rules. CBSDs most commonly operate in the CBRS category B rules, which refers to deployments outside, although there are a growing number of category A deployments, as indoor usage becomes more common.

CBSDs have been deployed extensively across the US, with our latest forecasts predicting by the end of this year, over 520,000 CBSDs will be deployed for use cases ranging from fixed wireless access to manufacturing to healthcare – a figure that will rise to almost 1.1 million by 2028.

Rural areas and counties in the US are expected to be a focus of CBSD deployments, by both operators and broadband providers, as the significant cost savings afforded to service providers and vendors shift the business case for investment in networks in these areas, where both revenue and profit margins are limited. Specifically, a major factor driving the deployment of CBSDs in rural areas has been the expansion of fixed access wireless, with CBRS being leveraged by broadband providers such as Mercury Broadband, and other service providers to expand access to their services and their userbase.

However, Juniper Research anticipates that over the next five years, the proportion of CBSDs deployed in rural areas will decline. This is expected, as the continued development of 5G private networks will result in an increasing number of urban enterprises and industries, such as healthcare, looking to leverage the cost savings of CBRS to offset the higher costs of 5G private networks.

Source: CBRS Market 2024-2028

Latest Press Release: US CBRS Market to Be Driven by Energy, Mining and Manufacturing; Reaching 66 Million Connections by 2028

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