The importance of wireless access – and therefore spectrum – for rural communities and users is increasing rapidly, both for personal and business or government purposes. Beyond mobile broadband, there is growing need for rural wireless connectivity for precision agriculture, transportation, public safety, utility field-workers and other uses. 

Rural economic growth, social welfare and access to fundamental services such as education and healthcare all hinge on better access to the Internet, cloud and business connectivity. That implies access to suitable spectrum resources. Critically, it also depends on timely, broad deployments of networks which make use of that spectrum. 

Disappointingly, networks suitable for advanced 5G services have so far only been deployed on a fraction of the footprint of nationwide, exclusive spectrum licenses awarded to the major carriers. 

But it does not have to be this way. Shared and unlicensed spectrum enables more agile and geographically focused deployments by alternative network owners to fill gaps in coverage from the national players and provide effective competition at a local level.

How rural areas benefit from shared/unlicensed spectrum

Not all rural areas are the same. There is a huge difference between fairly concentrated populations in small towns compared to agricultural or outlying areas, which may have a density of only 1-5 people per square mile or even less. The entire state of Wyoming has less than 6 people per square mile as an average.

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While the large carriers may eventually deploy high-speed public 5G networks in some more deep-rural areas, rural communities should not have to wait or suffer prolonged uncertainty. The major operators are sitting on radio resources that could be used by rural operators, alternative providers, communities, businesses, and cooperatives. 

Examples include:

  • Community-led wireless ISPs (WISPs) providing broadband in the lowest-density areas or very small towns. While these providers have long used unlicensed 2.4GHz spectrum, newer shared spectrum options such as CBRS can accelerate adoption significantly. 

  • Rural utility companies can deploy ultra-reliable and low latency networks over shared spectrum for grid control, or to provide connectivity for workers, their vehicles, and sensors, and drones.

  • Agricultural enterprises and cooperatives can create localized high-performance networks for precision agriculture, forestry management, livestock monitoring, and worker safety. 

  • Fixed and cable operators can pursue targeted and competitive wireless deployments as an adjunct to their wireline assets.

  • Shared or unlicensed spectrum can be used effectively for temporary or seasonal mobile networks, for agricultural harvests, fairs, tourism events and festivals. 

  • Private 4G/5G networks for enterprise sites in sectors such as manufacturing, mining, and transport.

As an extra benefit, smaller rural operators and private networks are much more likely to choose innovative US-based vendors for wireless deployed in shared or unlicensed spectrum. 

5G for precision agriculture: where is it?

The mobile industry has been pitching 5G as a key technology for agriculture for many years. Yet despite some early proofs-of-concept, large areas of American farmland and forestry operations are still unable to exploit it fully.

While some aspects of precision farming, such as moisture sensing, do not require huge network capacity or low latency, others – especially anything streaming video from cameras on drones or robots – are much more demanding. 

Conclusion: spectrum policy needs a rural focus on sharing

Discussions about “spectrum efficiency” of high-power cellular radios and exclusive licenses have been misguided. Vague and theoretical future scenarios with unknown deployment timelines have little relevance. Actual efficiency requires networks to be actually deployed and operational. In much of rural America, the effective value of much of the 5G-capable spectrum is zero.

There is an irony here: The mobile industry often has a very high urgency to see spectrum auctions rushed through, but then a remarkable lack of urgency to deploy that spectrum in rural areas.

This is why continued support and evolution of shared spectrum and coexistence, like CBRS and AFC-enabled 6GHz, is critical for rural users. The CBRS ecosystem is already benefiting from the recent relaxation of rules (CBRS 2.0). There are potentially other enhancements that could benefit rural users, such as permitted antenna height and perhaps locally-specific adjusted power levels. 

At the least, future spectrum allocations should take into account past experience and recognize the benefits that shared, locally-licensed spectrum can bring to rural America.

Dean Bubley (@disruptivedean) is the founder of Disruptive Analysis. He covers 5G, 6G, Wi-Fi, telco business models & regulation, and the emergence of technologies such as quantum networking and AI.