OnGo Alliance Adopts Formal CBRS Policy Positions to Support Long-Term Innovation, Investment, and Deployment Stability
ACI-NA voices official support for CBRS as DFW, Miami International, and Minneapolis-St. Paul join OnGo Alliance's growing enterprise membership
BEAVERTON, OR, UNITED STATES, July 14, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The OnGo Alliance, the driving force behind industry spectrum allocations and the adoption of Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), today released formally adopted policy positions on the band's future. The positions carry a direct message to policymakers: keep CBRS in the 3.55 to 3.7 GHz band where it is working, restore certainty for the operators and enterprises invested in it, and reject proposals to sharply increase outdoor base station power limits.A Proven Band Worth Protecting
CBRS has become one of the most successful spectrum policy innovations of the past decade, and its potential is still expanding. By opening 150 MHz of prime mid-band spectrum to a dynamic, three-tier sharing framework, the FCC created an open marketplace that has fueled real-world deployment at remarkable scale, without displacing federal incumbents or favoring a handful of large operators.
As of July 2026, the band supports more than 446,000 active base stations nationwide, 1.3 million active frequency grants, and more than 1,600 certified device models. CBRS today connects airports, factories, ports, farms, schools, hospitals, stadiums, utilities, public-safety operations, military bases, tribal lands, and rural broadband networks, supporting billions in private investment.
"CBRS is not only working, it is thriving, and the worst thing Washington could do is break what works," said Norman Fekrat, OnGo Alliance Chairman and CEO of Imagine Wireless. "Moving the band, clouding it with auction uncertainty, or handing it to a few high-power operators would strand billions in investment and punish the businesses, schools, and communities that built CBRS into a success. Our message is simple: keep CBRS where it is, restore certainty, and protect the low-power, shared model that lets an airport, a factory, and a rural provider all thrive in the same spectrum."
The Alliance’s Policy Priorities
Keep CBRS Where It Is, and Restore Certainty. The OnGo Alliance opposes any relocation of the current CBRS band (3.55 to 3.7 GHz). Relocation would strand billions in private investment, dismantle an ecosystem of more than 1,600 certified device models, and erase the economic value CBRS has created for American businesses, schools, and communities. No policy justification outweighs that destruction. The Alliance urges the Administration to reaffirm its commitment to CBRS, since continued uncertainty delays deployment, hurts GDP, and puts US industry at a competitive disadvantage globally.
Open the Door to Drones - Carefully. The OnGo Alliance supports exploring pathways for indoor and outdoor drone operations in the CBRS band and will work with the drone industry, federal and non-federal users, and the FCC on a workable framework, one that preserves the interference protections keeping existing CBRS networks reliable.
Don’t Raise Outdoor Power Limits. The OnGo Alliance opposes proposals to increase outdoor CBRS base station power limits by 32 to 320 times current levels. CBRS works precisely because it doesn't work like traditional cellular: low-power, small-cell rules let a manufacturing plant, a rural ISP, an airport, and a hospital share the same spectrum without drowning each other out. Even a small share of high-power conversions would consume capacity across the band, threatening operations at facilities like Miami International Airport, manufacturing plants, and rural providers nationwide. Higher power doesn't expand the band, it concentrates it.
Don’t Weaken Emissions Limits. Out-of-band and in-band emissions limits are the foundation of CBRS coexistence. Loosening them would degrade the performance of nearly half a million already-deployed devices, undermine investor and operator confidence in the band's long-term stability, and reward future deployments at the expense of those that built CBRS into a success.
Make Industry-Led GAA Coexistence a Pillar of CBRS. The OnGo Alliance's Collaborative GAA Coexistence framework, built on Wireless Innovation Forum specifications and implemented through SAS-mediated coordination, is already minimizing interference between neighboring GAA networks while preserving the open, low-friction access that gives CBRS its value. The FCC should confirm its support for industry-developed coexistence measures and make clear that good-faith collaboration is a required element of the CBRS framework, not optional.
More details can be found here.
Airports Line Up Behind Shared Spectrum
The case for protecting CBRS is increasingly made by the industries that depend on it. Airports Council International - North America (ACI-NA), representing commercial airports across the U.S. and Canada, has adopted an official policy stance supporting CBRS on two core positions:
First, CBRS should remain in its allocated band. Changes would require costly re-specification and replacement of existing technology, wasting investments already made and undermining confidence in future CBRS investment.
Second, revisions to CBRS licensing and use provisions should not adversely affect those invested in the band's three-tier framework, including the General Authorized Access (GAA) tier. Airports rely on GAA to deploy CBRS Private Wireless Networks for safety and security, and need the full 150 MHz across their jurisdiction for their many use cases.
A Growing Enterprise Movement
The airport sector's confidence in CBRS is showing up in the Alliance's membership. Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW), Miami International (MIA), and Minneapolis-St. Paul International (MSP) have joined the OnGo Alliance, part of a growing number of enterprises turning to shared spectrum for their own mission-critical wireless infrastructure. Their participation reflects reality on the ground: CBRS is a mature, multi-vertical platform that airports, energy companies, schools, manufacturers, and rural communities are already building on.
Looking Ahead
CBRS is delivering on the promise of dynamic spectrum sharing: more operators, more use cases, more competition, and more connectivity for more Americans. The OnGo Alliance stands ready to work with the FCC, the Administration, Congress, and the broader stakeholder community to ensure the rules governing the band protect the CBRS deployments serving Americans today.
About OnGo Alliance
The OnGo Alliance is a member consortium dedicated to advancing spectrum access for industry worldwide, beginning with the 3.5 GHz CBRS band in the United States and extending to industry spectrum allocations across global bands. By certifying multi-vendor interoperability, advancing neutral host architectures, and advocating pro-innovation spectrum policy, the Alliance is paving the path to ubiquitous, high-performance private wireless, fixed wireless, and neutral host deployments. Learn more and join at www.ongoalliance.org.
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