Nextlink today revealed some additional details about how it will use the spectrum it won in the recent Citizen’s Band Radio Service (CBRS) auction. As expected, Nextlink CBRS plans involve bringing fixed wireless to rural areas where high-speed broadband is not currently available.
The company’s spectrum holdings include licenses in over 491 counties in Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.
Nextlink will spend $28.4 million for 1,072 Priority Access Licenses (PALs). The collective footprint covers 14 million people.
The company says it was third in total licenses won and markets covered and ninth in invested capital.
“Nextlink Internet is striving to become the top internet service provider in small towns and rural markets across the Central USA, and the licenses we’ve just won will enable us to reach more customers with advanced, interference-free broadband services,” said Nextlink Internet CEO Bill Baker in a press release.
Auction results were announced on September 2, with an ensuing quiet period that ended yesterday.
Nextlink CBRS Vendors
Nextlink said it is working with Google and Nokia on its fixed wireless deployments.
Google will provide the company with its Spectrum Access System (SAS) and browser-based Network Planner. The SAS is designed to ensure that licensees only use spectrum that is not in use by the U.S. military. The Network Planner improves network operations efficiency.
Nokia will provide advanced LTE hardware, Nextlink said.
Nextlink seems to have a talent for winning in FCC auctions. The company was the big winner in the CAF II auction, which culminated a couple of years ago, wining $281.3 million toward the cost of fixed wireless deployments in several states.
