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What is most exciting for your organization around the opportunity with CBRS and OnGo?
- We are very excited that our extensive experience in 3.5 GHz solutions has enabled us to serve the CBRS market with real value. Sequans was founded as a 4G WiMAX company in 2003, and then as we transformed ourselves into an LTE company in 2010, we used our expertise in 3.5 GHz to help many of our customers transition from WiMAX to LTE using band 42 and 43 solutions. We’ve shipped multiple millions of chips and modules in these frequencies and are now using this real-world experience to support customers in the US on CBRS band 48. We think it’s great that the advent of CBRS has made it possible for small companies to participate equally with larger ones, and OnGo has made it easy with their on-boarding and certification programs.
What verticals do you see as having the most potential for your business with OnGo?
- Our focus is primarily on the market for private LTE networks. In our current world situation where remote working and distance learning have become extremely important, we are presented with a powerful opportunity to help. We believe many educational institutions, from elementary schools to universities, will adopt online learning platforms using private LTE networks. CBRS allows these organizations to rent spectrum and deploy online learning more easily than ever before, helping to fulfill this new and unprecedented demand. There is also significant interest in CBRS and OnGo coming from other vertical markets, such as health, public safety, cable TV, and utilities, where Sequans has a unique ability to customize software and tailor solutions to fit.
What use cases do you see as having the most potential for your business with OnGo (private LTE, neutral host, etc.)?
- With our focus on private LTE networks, we see tremendous potential in the deployment of user devices for these networks—devices such as desktop CPEs, MiFi routers, network interface cards, USB dongles—enabling the end user to connect to the private LTE network.
Tell us about an OnGo deployment (completed or planned) that your organization is participating in.
- We are working with more than a dozen companies who are using our LTE Cat 4 and Cat 6 OnGo certified modules (Cassiopeia CB410L and Cassiopeia CB610L) for product development and deployment. Arris (Commscope) is using the CB610L for a fixed wireless home router; Gemtek is using the CB410L for indoor and outdoor units (ODU/IDU); Multitech is using the CB610L for a CBRS USB dongle; and AMIT Wireless is using the CB410L module for a desktop CPE. We expect to announce several new customers and new devices for CBRS networks in the coming months.
What OnGo products or services does your organization offer?
- Sequans has released two modules for CBRS OnGo networks: Cassiopeia CB410L, and Cassiopeia CB610L. Both are cost-effective leadless chip carrier (LCC) modules designed to enable easy and massive deployment of IoT devices on private LTE CBRS networks. The modules are suitable for a wide range of medium rate data applications. The Cassiopeia CB610L CBRS Module supports UE Cat 6 with downlink rate up to 200 Mbps, and the Cassiopeia CB410L CBRS Module supports UE Cat 4 with downlink rate up to 100 Mbps.
What are your thoughts on how the PAL auction concluded?
- The auction was cause for amazement considering it offered the greatest number of spectrum licenses ever in a single FCC auction. In addition to the big obvious winners, Verizon, Dish, and the big cable companies, there were a lot of nontraditional bidders this time, including WISPs, some smaller cable TV companies, and even an oil and gas company (Chevron) and a university (Texas A&M). This perhaps shows the wide range of new possibilities and opportunities to provide the services that customers need and are demanding.
By the end of 2020, what changes do you expect to see in the market for OnGo?
- As the PAL auction shows, there is tremendous excitement and planning around building new networks and designing new services. We expect to see this activity ramp up in Q4 as new networks deploy and new services and devices come online. These are very exciting times for CBRS and OnGo.
