For Immediate Release 

September 2, 2026

Contact: [email protected]

In case you missed it – Industry analyst Dean Bubley, founder of Disruptive Analysis, recently published an article in Light Reading challenging cellular industry claims that spectrum used for Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) and other shared-use models is “wasted” or underused. Bubley argues that policymakers should apply the same scrutiny to the substantial exclusive-use spectrum holdings of major mobile carriers – particularly in rural and remote parts of the country.

Bubley points to the proposed satellite direct-to-device joint venture by the nation’s three largest carriers as evidence of a spectrum double standard. While satellite connectivity can help in national parks, disaster zones and other hard-to-reach locations, he argues that it should not become the primary answer for sparsely populated areas where carriers already hold spectrum that could support terrestrial coverage.

“The industry demanded more wireless spectrum to deliver next-generation ‘game-changing’ wireless ubiquitously throughout America,” Bubley writes. “The reality has fallen far short of what was promised, especially in rural and remote locations, and even in more populated suburban/rural parts of America where CTIA’s members have held back on deployment investment as compared to urban centers.” Bubley notes that carriers have other options to improve rural coverage, including network-sharing and new terrestrial network technologies that could improve the economics in the United States.

As policymakers consider the future of CBRS, 6 GHz and other spectrum bands, Bubley urges them to examine whether existing licensed holdings are being put to their best use. 

Read an excerpt from the article below. 

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If CBRS Is Wasted Spectrum, What Do You Call Rural 5G?

Light Reading

August 31, 2026

A recurrent theme from US cellular industry commentary in recent years has been complaints about supposedly unused or underused spectrum that it could put to “better” use. Yet there is surprisingly little focus on the major carriers’ own fallow and underused spectrum assets, which deserve similar scrutiny.

We have heard repeated claims that CBRS spectrum is not used sufficiently or that dynamic sharing mechanisms are allegedly inefficient. The benefits of technology innovation and new deployment models are downplayed. Recently, the industry has tried to suggest that the FCC’s relatively recent groundbreaking and internationally emulated release of unlicensed 6GHz spectrum should be partly reversed in order to emulate some countries’ – notably China’s – choices for 6G.

The message from organizations such as CTIA and its favorite consultancies is familiar: if spectrum is not used in the way CTIA’s members prefer – by large mobile operators, under exclusive, high-power licenses – then it is somehow badly allocated or even wasted.

But that argument now looks increasingly selective, if not outright hypocritical.

Check out the full article here.