Every day in our classrooms, students navigate digital curricula on Chromebooks, participate in real-time online assessments, and stream educational content through cloud-based platforms.
This is not the exception anymorethis is how education happensand our students cannot succeed without reliable connectivity.
While further integrating technology into our operations may seem obvious, what most people do not realize is that a little-known program called , or CBRS, has played a critical role in enabling our success.
CBRS was established by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to provide another option for shared, low-power spectrum, which is typically available only to large carriers at high cost.
CBRS allows schools like ours to build private wireless networks tailored to their needs. In fact, more than 1,000 operators have adopted this successful shared spectrum model, with more than 430,000 base stations deployed across the country.
The greatest benefit of CBRS has been its ability to provide affordable access to shared spectrum for a wide range of users. However, some proposed changes could alter the nature of that sharing and reduce its value.
I hope that any regulatory decisions fully consider the diverse set of users that rely on this innovation band, rather than favoring only the largest stakeholders.
CBRS gave our district a practical way to solve connectivity challenges that would have been impossible to address without it. In 2019, we launched a private LTE network using CBRS for a specific purpose: installing security cameras on our high schools drivers education range.
Those two cameras have run continuously for seven years. But then something shifted when we realized this technology could help us strengthen connectivity across our entire district.
Shared spectrum provides flexibility
Today, we serve 5,400 students across 10 schools in Utah’s Salt Lake Valley. Modern digital learning places growing demands on networks, but building a private cellular network using CBRS spectrum gave us the flexibility to fill specific coverage and capacity gaps tied directly to our students’ needs.
While commercial providers are the backbone of how our community connects, CBRS lets us extend that reach into places and situations they dont serve well.
We placed antennas on school rooftops to improve campus coverage. We installed routers on school buses with cameras to monitor student safety in real time. We partnered with InfiniG to bring cellular service to Parkside Elementary, a school that sat in a geographic dead zone where no reliable signal could reach the building. Today, staff can call 911.
Students can reach their families. That building no longer sits at the edge of connectivity.
The most powerful impact of our CBRS deployment came through our work with students experiencing homelessness. A few years ago, a middle school student and her family moved into their car.
We had installed charging stations in our school libraries where students could exchange school-issued Chromebooks for fully charged devices to take home. Every evening, this student would swap her device at the library before heading to the family’s vehicle for the night.
That device became a lifeline. She completed her homework alongside every other student. And her parents, who had access to the same device, could search for jobs and submit applications. One charged Chromebook became a bridge for an entire family during their most difficult period.
CBRS is not a theoretical policy. It is a working infrastructure. As policymakers consider the future of broadband and spectrum access, they should remember it is already delivering results in communities like ours.
Every student we connect is equipped to learn, compete, and build a future. Shared spectrum is helping us make that possible and Utah students are better for it.
