Private 5G Spectrum

A private cellular network needs spectrum, and unlike Wi-Fi, you do not simply switch it on. Every band Onyx supports carries its own licensing model, its own regulator, and its own set of obligations that continue for as long as the network operates.

What follows is the spectrum Onyx can use, how to get access to it in each region, and what the regulator expects of you afterwards. Read it before Step 1: Capacity: the band you can actually obtain constrains channel bandwidth, which constrains throughput, which sets the radio count.

The three ways to get spectrum

Private cellular spectrum comes from one of three models. Which one applies to you depends entirely on where the site is.

Model	How access works	Where it applies
Shared / coordinated	A central database authorises each radio dynamically and can modify or revoke that authorisation at any time. No auction, no license fee.	CBRS in the United States (n48/B48)
Local licensed	The regulator issues a site- or area-specific license directly to the enterprise, typically for a fixed term and a fixed fee.	n77/n78 in much of Europe and Asia-Pacific
Operator-provided	A mobile network operator leases capacity from its own licensed holdings for use on your private network.	Widely available; the usual route for FDD bands such as n26 and n28

NOTE: Spectrum availability is the single most common reason a design has to change late. Confirm which band you can actually obtain, and at what channel bandwidth: before committing to a capacity plan. A design sized for 100 MHz on n78 does not survive being moved to 20 MHz on CBRS.

Spectrum by country

The table below records where GXC has deployed and what is available elsewhere. Regulatory terms change often, so treat it as a starting point and confirm with the national regulator before committing to a design.

How to read n77 and n78 here. In 3GPP, n77 spans 3.3 to 4.2 GHz and n78 spans 3.3 to 3.8 GHz, so n78 sits entirely inside n77. That overlap causes a lot of confusion. In practice the industry treats them as adjacent, and this table follows that convention: n78 for 3.3 to 3.8 GHz, n77 for 3.8 to 4.2 GHz.

Why several European rows say "3.8 to 4.2 pending". EU Decision 2025/2425 harmonises 3800 to 4200 MHz for local-area networks and requires member states to make it available by 30 September 2026. Italy, Czechia and Hungary are all working through that, so those entries are likely to change.

Country	Band	Frequency	Status
United States	n48	3.55 to 3.70 GHz	GXC deployment
Brazil	n78	3.70 to 3.80 GHz	GXC deployment
Germany	n78	3.70 to 3.80 GHz	GXC deployment
Argentina	n40	2.30 to 2.40 GHz	GXC deployment
France	n77	3.80 to 4.20 GHz	GXC deployment
United Kingdom	n77	3.80 to 4.20 GHz	GXC deployment
Austria	n77	3.80 to 4.20 GHz	GXC deployment
Australia	n77	3.80 to 4.00 GHz	GXC deployment
Malaysia	n79	4.70 to 4.80 GHz	GXC deployment
Portugal	n77	3.80 to 4.20 GHz	Confirmed with a GXC customer
Netherlands	n78	3400 to 3450 and 3750 to 3800 MHz	Licensed since December 2023. Two 50 MHz blocks, your own site only, no third-party service. Licences run to 2040 and must be in use within 9 months. RDI
Spain	n77	3.80 to 4.12 GHz	Revised by the July 2026 CNAF update. See the note below. Ministry announcement
Japan	n79	4.60 to 4.90 GHz	Local 5G license from MIC, open to enterprises since December 2020
Thailand	n79	4.80 to 4.90 GHz	Available on request
Qatar	n78	3.50 to 3.80 GHz	No dedicated private band. Each operator holds 100 MHz and can provide capacity from it
Czechia	n78	3.40 to 3.80 GHz	Not a direct assignment: requires an operator agreement alongside regulator authorisation. 26 GHz opened for campus networks in 2026. 3.8 to 4.2 GHz pending
Hungary			No enterprise access today. The regulator has signalled the framework may change, and 3.8 to 4.2 GHz is pending
Italy			No dedicated band yet. A consultation on 3.8 to 4.2 GHz opened in May 2026. AGCOM 109/26/CONS
Indonesia			No local allocation. 3.5 GHz has not yet been released

Spain. The July 2026 CNAF revision splits the band several ways, and the segments overlap in places, so read the Orden itself before planning: 3800 to 3920 MHz is available as a local license, 3920 to 4020 MHz is reserved for defense, 3920 to 4120 MHz covers self-provision for broadcast use, and 4020 to 4120 MHz is available for self-provision more generally. 3.4 to 3.8 GHz is operator spectrum, not private.

Bands supported by Onyx

5G NR

Band	Duplex	Frequency	Access Points
n48 (CBRS)	TDD	3550–3700 MHz	G105 (indoor), G505 (outdoor)
n78	TDD	3300–3800 MHz	G105 (indoor), G505 · G506 (outdoor)
n77	TDD	3800–4200 MHz (G506) 3700–4200 MHz (G105, future release)	G506 (outdoor), G105 (indoor, future release)
n41	TDD	2496–2690 MHz	G509-n41 (outdoor)
n79	TDD	4700–5000 MHz	G509-n79 (outdoor)
n28	FDD	UL 703–748 MHz · DL 758–803 MHz	G509-n28 (outdoor)
n26	FDD	UL 814–849 MHz · DL 859–894 MHz	G509-n26 (outdoor)

LTE

Band	Duplex	Frequency	Access Points
B48 (CBRS)	TDD	3550–3700 MHz	G100 (indoor), G101 · G501 (outdoor)
B3	FDD	UL 1710–1785 MHz · DL 1805–1880 MHz	G229 (indoor)
B1	FDD	UL 1920–1980 MHz · DL 2110–2170 MHz	G249 (outdoor)

For transmit power, MIMO configuration, channel bandwidth options, and link budget per model, see the individual specification sheets under Onyx Hardware.

What the band choice determines

Band selection is not only a licensing question. It propagates through the whole design.

Duplex mode sets the uplink ceiling. The TDD bands: n48, n77, n78, n41, n79: share one channel between uplink and downlink on a configurable slot pattern, so uplink capacity is a design decision. Onyx supports patterns from 77% DL / 21% UL (DDDDDDDSUU) through to 34% DL / 63% UL (DSUUU). The FDD bands: n26, n28, B1, B3: give uplink and downlink permanently separate channels, so the split is fixed but guaranteed.

Frequency sets the coverage radius. The sub-GHz FDD bands (n28 at 703–803 MHz, n26 at 814–894 MHz) propagate substantially further and penetrate structure better than the mid-band TDD options at 3.3–5.0 GHz. Their channel bandwidths are correspondingly narrow: 40 MHz on n28, 20 MHz on n26, against up to 100 MHz on n78. Coverage and capacity pull in opposite directions here.

Channel bandwidth sets the throughput. This is the number that carries into Step 1 - Capacity. CBRS grants in particular are frequently narrower than the maximum the hardware supports, because the SAS issues what is available rather than what you request.

NOTE: Every cell sharing a band at a site, and any neighbouring operator in the same band: must use the same TDD pattern and frame timing. The slot pattern is a site-wide decision, not a per-application one. Where two applications need incompatible splits, separate them onto different carriers rather than compromising both.

CBRS in the United States

CBRS is the most common route to private cellular spectrum in the US, and the one with the most operational obligation attached. It operates in 3550–3700 MHz under 47 CFR Part 96, regulated by the FCC.

The three-tier model

Access is prioritized across three tiers, and the Spectrum Access System (SAS) enforces that priority continuously.

Tier	Users	Protection
Tier 1: Incumbents	US Navy radar, Fixed Satellite Service earth stations, other federally authorised users	Full protection. When incumbent activity is detected, all lower tiers vacate.
Tier 2: Priority Access License (PAL)	Licensees holding exclusive rights won at FCC auction	Protected within the licensed geographic area; yields to incumbents.
Tier 3: General Authorized Access (GAA)	License-by-rule, open to anyone	Shared, non-exclusive, no interference protection.

Most private deployments, including most GXC Onyx deployments, run on GAA. There is no license to buy and no auction to enter, but there is also no protection, and a grant can be modified or withdrawn.

What this obligates you to

CBRS is not permission granted once. It is authorisation maintained continuously.

• Every radio must register with an FCC-approved SAS before it transmits. Onyx handles this through an integrated Domain Proxy, so registration and grant management happen from the Onyx Portal rather than radio by radio. GXC's primary SAS provider is Federated Wireless, though the platform is designed to work with any FCC-approved SAS.
• A Certified Professional Installer must certify each installation. The FCC requires a credentialed CPI to verify and digitally sign the installation parameters: location, antenna height AGL, azimuth, downtilt, gain, and deployment category: before those records go to the SAS. CPI certification is issued to an individual, not a company, and that individual is accountable for the accuracy of every record they sign.
• Grants must be maintained by heartbeat. Each radio sends periodic heartbeats through the Domain Proxy. Miss the interval, or have spectrum availability change, and the SAS may suspend, modify, or terminate the grant.
• The SAS can reconfigure your network without warning. Environmental Sensing Capability sensors watch for federal incumbent activity. When a Dynamic Protection Area activates, the SAS automatically reassigns frequencies, reduces transmit power, or suspends transmission until the incumbent clears. Onyx handles this automatically, but plan for a network whose operating frequency and bandwidth can change during normal operation.

NOTE: Plan your capacity against the bandwidth you are likely to be granted, not the maximum the band allows. A GAA deployment that only works at its peak grant is a deployment that stops working when a higher tier needs the spectrum.

For the complete registration workflow: CPI account setup, deployment creation, CBSD records, signing, Onyx Portal configuration, grant verification, and troubleshooting: see 4G & 5G Onyx CBRS SAS Registration.

Outside the United States

Local licensing for private networks is now established in many markets, most commonly in n77 and n78. Terms vary widely: some regulators issue per-site licences on application, others allocate regional blocks, and some route private allocations through incumbent operators.

Two things are consistent enough to plan around:

• Mid-band TDD (n77/n78) is the mainstream private allocation. If a market has a dedicated private-network band, it is usually here.
• Equipment authorisation is separate from spectrum authorisation. Holding a license does not by itself permit you to deploy a given radio. Each Onyx AP ships with regulatory compliance information for its supported markets; see the Appendix: Regulatory Compliance in that model's hardware installation guide.

NOTE: Regulatory frameworks for private spectrum change faster than most documentation. Confirm current terms with the national regulator, and contact GXC before finalising a design that depends on a specific allocation.

Compliance and certification

• FCC Part 96: Onyx is FCC-certified for Part 96 compliance, supporting shared CBRS spectrum use in the United States.
• Integrated CBRS Domain Proxy: enables compliant, interference-free shared-spectrum operation through encrypted communication with the SAS.
• Per-model regulatory compliance: each AP, mesh node, and FHM hardware installation guide includes a regulatory compliance appendix covering the markets that model is approved for.

For the platform's wider security posture and certifications, see Security and Compliance.

Related reading

• 4G & 5G Onyx CBRS SAS Registration: the full CBSD registration workflow, end to end
• Step 1: Capacity: how channel bandwidth and TDD pattern turn into a radio count
• Onyx Hardware: per-model frequency, power, and regulatory detail

  • Glossary: CBRS, SAS, CBSD, CPI, GAA, PAL, DPA, and related terms

Contact GXC

To get in touch with GXC, please visit https://gxc.io/contact-us/.