A master carpenter has an extensive toolbox. He knows that the difference between “good enough” and “great” is made by choosing the right tool for the application. As a growing number of business and residential customers around the world are looking to add high-speed internet services, they are turning to service providers to outfit them with reliable and cost-efficient connectivity. The service provider with the most extensive set of technology options will be better able to provide a great digital experience while meeting the cost objectives of the business.
As always, making the right technology decision boils down to the individual use case. It’s fine to deploy mobile networks in situations where users find themselves constantly on the go and moving at 70 miles per hour. The majority of users are stationary people in homes or at desks, and they need cost-efficient broadband that will be consistently reliable. Fixed wireless access (FWA) connections with Wi-Fi access are simply a more cost-efficient solution for use cases that do not require mobility.
While we’re still relatively early in what’s shaping up to be a historic transition, the trend is accelerating with the number of mobile-based and stand-alone fixed wireless access (FWA) connections globally projected to triple by 2028, reaching over 300 million. Let’s take a closer look at the factors driving this shift.
Performance and price
Take for example Nigeria, a nation with nearly 200 million people that has still a relatively low broadband penetration rate at around 38%. But change is happening: within the next 4 years, the number of Nigerians expected to use the Internet is projected to grow to approximately 60% and FWA is playing a central role. One of the companies bringing affordable, high-speed internet access to local communities around the country is Tizeti, Nigeria’s fastest-growing Internet service provider. While service providers have many technologies to choose from in delivering broadband services, Tizeti is working to close Nigeria’s digital divide by deploying end-to-end wireless solutions with FWA broadband backhaul, as it can deliver the high performance and reliability that Nigeria’s — current and future — customers expect at a lower cost than mobile based fixed wireless.
FWA makes all this possible. So, what does that mean in practice?
Fixed wireless comes in two different architectures: Mobile 5G–based and standalone. Knowing the difference is important as the performance and cost differences are critically important when you need to choose the right technology to connect customers.
The former is a solution that uses the mobile wireless network to directly connect devices and share bandwidth with mobile users. Mobile Network Operators (MNO) offer this service as it leverages the network across a larger subscriber base.
But keep in mind that mobile networks weren’t originally designed for fixed users. So, what happens is that ultimately, the network struggles in high-density applications because it simply does not have the capacity to serve both the mobile customers and the fixed customers. The typical user experience is fine, but as more people sign up for the service, performance drops to unsatisfactory levels. Even the large MNOs have stated that fixed wireless (meaning mobile-based fixed wireless) is not a long-term solution for consumer broadband in densely populated areas (which is where the bulk of 5G has been deployed).
By contrast, FWA is a standalone solution with a purpose-built network that provides an infrastructure for Wi-Fi routers, where subscribers connect their devices. Independent of the mobile network, there is no sharing with other mobile users.
The cost of standalone fixed wireless and Wi-Fi solutions is particularly compelling when it comes to supporting solutions in dense urban locations, industrial remote sites, and similar hard-to-reach locations where economics drive decisions on architecture and technology.
For example, consider the performance of current standalone systems, which now support multi-gigabit speeds and have evolved to support increasing demand for broadband. What’s more, the economics are sure to draw the attention of any CFO.
At the same time, FWA offers significant performance advantages. For example, with software defined radio technology, a standalone system can deliver uplink and downlink speeds to suit the application. Video surveillance requires higher uplink speeds than gaming or downloading files. And based on the applications requirements, service providers, enterprises and industrial operators can build the exact network they need.
This is why purpose-built standalone fixed wireless is getting more widely deployed in Nigeria and other regions around world. And it’s why San Jose, California, the 10th largest city in the United States, has deployed public Wi-Fi within the downtown area using 60 GHz millimeter wave fixed wireless infrastructure in its Smart City Vision project rather than fiber backhaul.
It’s also why the village of Standard in Alberta, Canada was able to deploy gigabit speed connectivity in 21 days. Or why a Fortune 150 oil and gas producer is deploying an integrated wireless communications infrastructure to improve oil field operational efficiency and enable digital transformation initiatives.
There are many broadband connectivity technologies. No one technology fits all applications. The service provider who has more options will have the better solution that fits the customer needs and the business plan. The details of each deployment vary but they belong to the larger narrative about FWA, a cost-effective technology infrastructure whose time has arrived. There’s no secret to its popularity. It’s simply efficient to deploy, easy to manage and provides customers with affordable and reliable broadband service.
