FWA – a practical option for mass-market broadband in urban areas
Wireless access (LTE, CBRS and 5G) is a practical and economic option for broadband delivery to urban, suburban and rural areas. CommScope’s self-install home gateways with high-performance Wi-Fi, and wireless access network solutions enable robust voice, video, data and IoT services.
Wireless has been used successfully for many years to deliver Internet services to mainly rural areas. With advances in 4G LTE, CBRS and 5G NR wireless access is a practical and economic alternative to copper and fiber. Even where new cell-sites are required, FWA can be a cheaper option than fiber, and connecting new consumers is simpler and quicker.
Rural deployments covering large geographic areas have required external, technician-installed customer premises equipment (CPE) with line-of-sight to the transmitter. This has made provisioning a new customer complex, expensive and time consuming.
Urban areas with their shorter distances, typically <2 Miles (3 Km), allow for indoor, non-line-of-sight CPE that may be installed by the consumer. Not only much cheaper, they are quicker to install – so the customer is online fast and so is the revenue. With lower up-front costs, prices can be more competitive and contracts shorter.