Google is retiring its CBRS Spectrum Access System. It stopped taking new customers on June 10, 2026, and it shuts down on June 10, 2027. If your CBRS radios get their grants from Google, you have to move every one of them to another SAS before that date, or they stop transmitting.
I am a certified CBRS Professional Installer, and helping operators register radios is part of what we do. This is the plan I would follow: what changes on what date, what moves with you and what does not, and the order of operations that keeps your sectors on the air. Every rule here links to its source at the bottom of the page.
The Dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| June 10, 2026 | Google stops accepting new SAS customers. New network registrations are disabled. |
| June 2026 to June 2027 | Existing customers keep full service and pay-as-you-go billing. Google offers migration help at sas-support@google.com. |
| June 10, 2027 | Google SAS shuts down. |
Google announced the retirement on its product page the same day it stopped taking new customers, and its docs say it is leaving the business to focus its engineering elsewhere.
What Happens If You Do Nothing
Your radios go dark. Under FCC Part 96 a CBSD has to be registered with and authorized by a SAS, it may only transmit on channels a SAS has authorized, and it must stop transmitting within 60 seconds when told to. In the WInnForum protocol every SAS uses, a radio whose heartbeat goes unanswered past its grant’s transmit expiry has to stop within 60 seconds. When Google stops answering, that is every sector still pointed at it.
Where You Can Move
The FCC said in March 2026 that it has approved eight SAS administrators and six still operate, Google among them. Over the last few years CommScope stopped running its SAS and Amdocs let its certification lapse, and the FCC certified a new SAS from Nokia in December 2025. Federated Wireless, the largest SAS by most counts, and Key Bridge are the two openly recruiting Google customers. Key Bridge has published month-to-month pricing and a transfer tool, and Federated runs a migration intake.
Price matters less than three questions. Will they help you move? Does their SAS support your domain proxy, if you use one? And do your radios already trust their root certificate authority?
What Moves With You, and What Does Not
| Item | At the new SAS |
|---|---|
| User ID | New. The new SAS issues it when you register. |
| Grants | Never transfer. Deregistering drops them; you request new ones. |
| CBSD certificates | Keep working if they are not expired. CBRS uses one shared WInnForum certificate system, but the radio or domain proxy must trust the new SAS’s root CA. |
| Single-step CPI data | Should travel with the radio’s registration request, since it names the radio, not the SAS. Confirm with your new SAS, especially if the CPI’s certificate has since expired. |
| CPI sign-offs entered in Google’s portal | Plan to enter and sign them again. Google’s export flags them as signed but does not include the signature. |
| PAL protection | Rebuilt during CPAS. Google’s guidance was to request PAL grants at least 2 hours before it runs; ask your new SAS for theirs. |
How to Move Your Radios, Step by Step
- Inventory every CBSD on Google. Pull the list out of Google before you touch anything. Google’s retirement notes say to export through the SAS Portal API. For each radio you want the FCC ID, serial number, category, installation parameters, whether a CPI signed it, and its grants. Do not forget CPE that registers as its own CBSD. Those move too.
- Check every certificate’s expiry date. CBSD certificates last 10 years. Domain proxy and CPI certificates last 5. An expired certificate fails the TLS handshake, so that radio cannot talk to any SAS, old or new. Some older radios shipped certificates that have already run out. Find them now, while you still have months to replace them.
- Pick your new SAS and open the account. The new SAS issues you a new user ID. Ask how it handles migrations, what it charges, whether it supports your domain proxy, and whether your radios already trust its root certificate authority. A CBSD that does not trust the new SAS’s root CA cannot connect.
- Get your CPI data ready. Category B radios need CPI-signed installation data at the new SAS, and an outdoor Category A unit mounted above 6 meters height above average terrain counts as Category B. Single-step CPI data names the radio, not the SAS, so it should carry over, but confirm that with your new SAS. Sign-offs you entered in Google’s portal probably have to be entered and signed again. Line up your CPI before cutover night.
- Plan the cutover around CPAS. A CBSD cannot hold authorization from two SASs at the same time. You deregister at Google, which drops every grant, then register at the new SAS. The SASs sync once a day during CPAS (07:00 to 10:00 UTC), and the new SAS may not see your Google deregistration until it runs. Move a sector or a site at a time, in a maintenance window, and expect downtime.
- Confirm grants, then clean up Google. Watch the new SAS until every radio holds a grant and heartbeats normally. Then deregister anything still left at Google and keep your export. PAL holders: Google’s guidance was to request PAL grants at least 2 hours before CPAS so protection starts after it finishes. Ask your new SAS for its timing.
Do not leave this for May 2027. Every operator on Google has the same deadline, and CPIs and SAS support desks will be busiest in the last weeks.
Category A or Category B?
It decides how much paperwork the move takes. Part 96 requires professional installation for every Category B CBSD, and an outdoor Category A unit mounted more than 6 meters above average terrain is treated as Category B. Those need CPI-signed data at the new SAS. A Category A unit that can determine its own location, which usually means built-in GPS, can normally re-register without a CPI.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does Google SAS shut down?
Google stopped accepting new SAS customers on June 10, 2026, and will shut the service down on June 10, 2027. Existing customers keep full service and pay-as-you-go billing until then.
Can I add new radios to Google SAS?
Plan on no. Google says new network registrations are disabled. Register new CBSDs with the SAS you are moving to.
Do my CBRS grants transfer to the new SAS?
No. Deregistering a CBSD removes its grants, and you request new ones from the new SAS. Plan for the gap.
Do I need a CPI to move my radios?
For Category B radios, yes: the new SAS needs CPI-signed installation data. Single-step CPI data should carry over with the registration (confirm with your new SAS), but sign-offs entered in Google’s portal will likely need to be signed again. A Category A unit that can locate itself usually does not need one.
What happens to radios still on Google SAS after June 10, 2027?
They lose their grants. Under FCC Part 96 a CBSD may only transmit on channels a SAS has authorized, and when its heartbeat goes unanswered it must stop transmitting within 60 seconds. The sector goes dark.
Which SAS should I move to?
The FCC says six SAS administrators were operating as of March 2026, including Google. Federated Wireless and Key Bridge are both publicly courting Google customers. Compare support, price, domain proxy support, and whether your radios already trust their root CA.
Will my radios go down during the move?
Expect some downtime. Operators who switched SAS providers before reported anything from a few minutes to a two-day window, mostly because the SASs only sync once a day. Move in planned windows, not all at once.
Need Help Moving?
I am a certified CBRS CPI. We can inventory your CBSDs, check every certificate, re-sign installation data, open your new SAS account with you, and plan the cutover a site at a time. If your core needs attention while you are in there, we do that too: Rapid5GS and plain Open5GS. Book a consultation or call 205-928-6797.
Running Titan 4000 CPE? Check which build you are on in our Titan 4000 firmware notes. Building a new site? Our Nokia AZQC 3-sector kit includes 8 hours of setup help.
Sources
- Google Cloud: Spectrum Access System retirement notice
- Google Cloud docs: SAS deprecation and data export
- Google Cloud docs: CPAS synchronization window
- 47 CFR Part 96 (Citizens Broadband Radio Service), sections 96.39, 96.43, 96.45
- FCC public notice DA 26-280 (March 23, 2026): approved SAS administrators
- WInnForum TS-0016: SAS to CBSD protocol
- WInnForum TS-0022: CBRS PKI certificate policy
- Fierce Network: Google exits CBRS SAS administration (June 10, 2026)
Planning a private LTE or CBRS network?
Talk to the WISP operators who build and run these networks. We help with radios, cores, CBRS and SAS registration, and the site work in between.
