Preserving the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band is essential to ensuring schools, colleges and universities can build the reliable, flexible connectivity their students and communities need. Across K–12 and higher education, institutions are using CBRS to extend broadband into hard-to-reach areas, improve student safety, power AI-enabled learning tools, support advanced research and give students hands-on experience with the wireless networks of the future. These real-world deployments demonstrate how the current shared-spectrum framework enables educators to address local connectivity challenges with solutions tailored to their communities. As policymakers consider changes to the band, these voices underscore the importance of protecting the CBRS framework, a valuable, American-made asset that is helping expand educational opportunity, close the digital divide, and prepare the next generation for success.

“As an institution that has pioneered the “Nation’s Most Connected Campus,” we have seen firsthand how the current low-power, shared-spectrum framework enables critical innovation in higher education…The low-latency and high-capacity nature of our CBRS network is the foundation for our next generation of academic tools. We are leveraging the network to support AI-driven applications that offer a more individualized approach to education. By providing the consistent connectivity required for real-time AI tutoring, personalized learning platforms, and adaptive assessments, we are able to tailor the educational experience to each student’s unique needs, directly driving student success and retention.”

Jeffrey Rubin, Senior Vice President and Chief Digital Officer, Syracuse University, July 14, 2026

“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 don’t 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.”

Jason Eyre, Technology Department Coordinator, Murray City School District, May 18, 2026

“Because of CBRS spectrum, Cal Poly was able to deploy a private LTE network that fundamentally changed how we connect students, faculty, and research infrastructure. The Avila Beach research pier – cut off from reliable connectivity for years – now supports real-time monitoring and exploration of the ecosystems just offshore. Our Digital Transformation Hub has become a true living lab, where students gain real-world experience with private 5G systems they will help build and manage in industry and government. Across campus, research teams working with IoT devices and advanced applications finally have the control, security, and dedicated bandwidth they need. None of this would have been possible without shared spectrum solutions like CBRS.” 

Christopher Lupo, Founding Director of the Noyce School of Applied Computing, California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly), May 15, 2026

“While ICOE’s self-managed LTE network operates on the 2.5 GHz Educational Broadband Spectrum (EBS), we see an opportunity to expand our network reach beyond our geographic service area by utilizing available spectrum via the CBRS band, particularly in the remote communities of Winterhaven and Ocotillo. We have experienced firsthand that having accessible, cost-effective spectrum enables us to support even the most vulnerable members of our community who face connectivity and affordability challenges. Our community relies on bold and innovative broadband solutions like ours to help their children throughout their educational journey.”

Luis Wong, Chief Executive Officer, Network Initiatives, Imperial County Office of Education (ICOE), December 5, 2025

“Our CBRS network is one of the main reasons the digital divide in Castleberry ISD is not worse than it is today. At its peak, we provided reliable broadband to more than 90 percent of our students who reported a lack of usable home internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it was the difference between limping along and completely losing large portions of our student population. Without this network, we would not have made it through that period as intact academically or operationally as we did.”

Jacob Bowser, Executive Director of Technology, Castleberry Independent School District, December 1, 2025

“The Boulder Valley School District’s (BVSD) “ConnectME” program is an example of a [Community anchor institution] that deployed a private LTE network by using shared CBRS spectrum…BVSD provided space to LiveWire on a few school building roofs to construct towers with fixed wireless access points that transmit wireless internet using the CBRS spectrum band. LiveWire then provided no-cost Internet service to students in that area based on their eligibility to receive free and reduced lunch. BVSD expanded the program in 2020 and provided LiveWire with roof space on nearly all of its school buildings.”

Kristen Corra, Policy Counsel, Schools, Health & Libraries Broadband (SHLB) Coalition, December 13, 2024

“Ultimately, this is about equity. Enabling fair outcomes for every student and equitable access to an academic experience was the driving force behind our approach. Federated Wireless provided the network architecture and spectrum sharing capabilities we needed to get connectivity to students with the necessary broadband throughput required to do their schoolwork.”

Allan Ekberg, Former Mayor, City of Tukwila, November 28, 2023

“One of the benefits of the private cellular network is its unique flexibility and scalability, which can be more cost-effective than other communications infrastructures. As our needs evolve, we can expand the network very quickly and inexpensively to pursue new research initiatives that will accelerate the adoption of digital agriculture technologies to improve agricultural productivity and sustainability  at farm, regional, national, and global scales.”

Dr. Scott A. Shearer, Chair, Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, September 19, 2023