Our Customer Commitment
Would You Give Your Competition Access to Your Customer List?
This is not a rhetorical question. It is a serious one that is important consider as you weigh your choice of SAS providers. Because, while all SAS Administrators deliver a highly regulated and standardized service and appear the same on the surface, dig a little deeper. You will find there are a number of important differences between the leading SAS providers.
Privacy of Your Data
How your SAS Administrator uses your private data should be one of the first questions you ask when choosing a SAS provider. Let’s explore what the SAS knows about your network and customers.
In order for any SAS to do the job of managing access to CBRS spectrum, it must collect detailed information about each of its customer’s network deployments. This data is collected either automatically when each CBSD and CPE registers with the SAS or manually by the Certified Professional Installer when they register the radio with the SAS.
Some of the information you provide to the SAS includes:
- The location (latitude/longitude) of each CPE and CBSD
- The height of the CBSD
- The azimuth (direction the CBSD is pointing)
- Radio type (outdoor Cat B/base station, indoor Cat A, CPE in the home)
This data is required to ensure that incumbents are protected, and the spectrum is shared properly across the three tiers of users: Federal Incumbents, Priority Access License holders and General Authorized Access users.
There is no question of who owns the data you provide to the SAS. It is your data. So that leads to the question “How can the SAS Administrator use your data?” This is your network, and these are your customers. This is sensitive information. You’ve worked hard to acquire these customers. You shouldn’t have to give up your rights to the data, and you should be able to use CBRS spectrum with the confidence that this data will not be used against you by a competitor.
Federated Wireless is a growing company competing against giants for your SAS business. We were founded with the idea that sharing spectrum rather than owning it would lead to an explosion of wireless innovation. We are laser focused on shared spectrum and our SAS is the core of our company.
Federated Wireless is committed to protecting your data and will never use it for anything other than ensuring you get the most CBRS spectrum at the highest allowable EIRP. See our Statement on Data Use Policy here. However, not every SAS provider feels the same. Ask yourself this: “Is your SAS provider only interested in providing you with spectrum, or are they building a fixed wireless service to compete with you?”
Will Your SAS Provider Become a Competitor?
If your SAS provider has designs on building their own fixed wireless business, then your data could be extremely valuable to them. CPE locations are suddenly a complete map of where their potential customers are located. CBSD data allows them to understand the coverage gaps, the unserved customers, the licenses available, the list goes on and on. This is free market research.
In fact, from day one, some SAS Administrators have openly talked about their desire to become a dominant ISP. It has always been part of their long game. Here are a couple of recent reference points. We’ll let you draw your own conclusions:
Google’s wireless gigabit internet is now called Fiber Webpass
It looks like Google has resurrected their Google Fiber business under a new name that offers point-to-point Fixed Wireless services for apartment buildings and offices.
Google asks to run secret tests for a new type of wireless broadband
From the article: “Google wanted information in the public document redacted, saying that ‘if subject to public disclosure, would cause significant commercial, economic, and competitive harm.’”
Read Your SAS Contract Carefully
You may or may not own your data in their contract. Regardless, they will have access to your customer data to make their own business decisions. Ensure your SAS provider is not planning to compete against you by introducing fiber or fixed wireless service in your markets.
Some questions you might want to ask before signing include: Who owns the data you collect from our network deployments? How will the data be used? What assurances can you provide me that you won’t use the data you collect to build a competitive broadband service?
Our Commitment to Our Customers
Our business practice on the use of your data is straightforward and simple to understand.
We will not, under any circumstance whatsoever, disclose, distribute, share, or sell your information—including your email, street address and phone number—to anyone.
We will not, under any circumstance whatsoever, use your data—including the location of your radios—for any purpose other than coordinating operations, managing interference, and assigning frequencies as a SAS Administrator. Period.
Finally, no one outside of our organization will ever have access to your data. The only exception to this rule is if we are required by subpoena or other legal or regulatory action to grant access to an individual in the process of an investigation.