2020: The Year Shared Spectrum Began Transforming Telecom

If we look back a few years, 2020 will be remembered for more than COVID, 5G rollouts, political upheaval, or the “murder hornets” scare.

As Marc Price, CTO of MATRIXX Software, points out, buried beneath the pandemic, politics, and protests was a quiet but seismic shift: the FCC – and similar regulators worldwide – opened wireless spectrum to allow private cellular networks to be built by any company willing to deploy them.

That change matters because spectrum licences have long been the gatekeeper of the wireless “club.” Global carriers spend billions each year on licences – the largest capital expense – which is why they dominate the market.

Uber‑Scale Disruption for Telcos

The FCC’s announcement upended that model. Think of Uber or Airbnb: they built a platform without owning the underlying assets. Shared spectrum can create the same effect for telecom, letting new players compete without the massive upfront licence costs.

CBRS: Three‑Tiered Shared Spectrum

In 2020, the United States introduced the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), making 3 GHz of spectrum available in three tiers: incumbents (e.g., the military), priority access (operators), and general authorized access (any business). Traditionally, spectrum is scarce and expensive, but CBRS changes that.

The December 2020 C‑band auction was the most lucrative U.S. spectrum auction ever, raising over US$69 billion. Priority‑access licences have since generated more than US$4.5 billion as operators and new entrants—such as utilities—bought them. For enterprises, general authorized access is free: 80 MHz of spectrum is available for private cellular use in any dedicated space, plus any channels not claimed by higher‑tier users.

Private Networks Redefining Economics

Private networks were once a niche for large campuses seeking secure, reliable connectivity. Today they are reshaping economics and unlocking new revenue streams in hospitals, schools, airports, apartments, and offices.

Cellular networks are inherently more reliable, secure, and scalable than Wi‑Fi. With 4G’s evolution to 5G—delivering millisecond latencies, gigabit speeds, ultra‑precise location, and longer battery life—devices on the Internet of Things can operate at scale and with low cost.

New companies delivering 4G and 5G services independently of the major carriers can also thrive.

Beyond Spectrum: OpenRAN and Open Core

Other market forces are accelerating the shift. OpenRAN converts proprietary base‑station hardware into software running on commodity machines, while Open Core develops a cloud‑native network core for 4G/5G on standard infrastructure. These initiatives break the concentration of suppliers and reduce the cost of running a cellular network.

Thus, the economic disruption that began in 2020 is affecting every layer of the telco ecosystem. From shared spectrum to open‑source network platforms, the industry is moving toward a future where private networks and new entrants can compete without the traditional barriers.

Marc Price, CTO, Matrixx Software

The author is Marc Price, CTO of Matrixx Software.