of 1 Gbps download speeds,” said Toby Forman, CEO at SmartCIC, the parent company of CELLSMART. “On some 5G networks, consumers can download an entire high-definition TV episode in eight seconds while businesses can benefit from lightning-fast application performance.” Looking at the wired internet speeds being delivered to businesses in 2022, the download speeds experienced by CELLSMART appear adequate to serve the needs of most small and mid-sized businesses. While SMBs require robust and reliable internet service, they may not need gigabit speeds or unlimited data to support key business use cases, said researchers at IDC. Only 11 percent of SMBs surveyed by IDC in 2022 were utilizing a circuit of 1 Gbps or more. Nearly six in 10 responding SMBs were being serviced by a broadband connection of 100 Mbps or less. And for many SMBs, the speed of the service could be less a factor than the flexibility and speed of deployments provided by a wireless broadband alternative. While we are well past the peak of remote working, the majority of desk-based employees still are working under some type of flexible arrangement. According to the latest findings from Flex Index, which tracks work arrangements and flexibility across 8,000 companies, just more than a third of organizations have returned to “full-time in office” status. In fact, the percentage of companies considered full-time in office has declined since the first quarter of 2023, well after the ramp up of return-to-office efforts. Meanwhile, a full 65 percent of companies currently offer work location flexibility, a 14-point increase from last year. For that majority of remote, hybrid workers (plus the tens of millions of deskless workers that rely daily on technology and connectivity) a hardline to a desktop has become less and less relevant. Even for fully remote workers, the laptop is quickly becoming the work computer of choice, PC and laptop sales suggest. For IT departments supporting flexible work arrangements, a business-class, SOHO wireless broadband connection that can be centrally managed and invoiced and relatively easy to deploy could be quite appealing. In most cases, access to flexible workers is about reaching cellphones and Wi-Fi routers, and often wireless connectivity can reach those devices much easier and quicker than wireline connectivity. It’s not uncommon, for instance, for wireless broadband connections to be turned on in weeks where it would have taken months to light a landline circuit. For SmartCIC’s Forman, that speed to service also represents speed to monetization. “For our partners selling overlay services, they can’t monetize those overlay services until they get the underlay in,” said Forman, while sitting on the CVxEXPO wireless panel. Perhaps more important than any of the above, we also are on the cusp of seeing a wave of 5G bandwidth hitting the market. This comes by way of the large chunks of C-Band spectrum that were recently gobbled up by AT&T, Verizon and, to a lesser degree, T-Mobile. Last August, the carriers were finally granted full access to the 5G C-Band spectrum they acquired in 2021. The spectrum became available as satellite operators cleared it for use by mobile operators. Back in 2021, Verizon spent $45.5 billion on 5G C-Band spectrum during the auction, while AT&T spent $23.4 billion. With the spectrum clearance last summer, Verizon said it gained access to a minimum of 140 megahertz of total spectrum in the contiguous U.S. and an average of 161 megahertz nationwide, with the bandwidth available to all 406 of its markets. That includes up to 200 megahertz in 158 mostly rural markets covering nearly 40 million people. AT&T, which so far has rolled out its licensed C-Band spectrum at an average of 80MHz in each market, now has access to a minimum of 100MHz of mid-band spectrum in the contiguous U.S. and an average of 120MHz nationwide. C-band recently made headlines when the Federal Aviation Administration claimed 5G moving in the spectrum would interfere with in-flight communications. With that case settled and the satellite providers largely having exited the space, AT&T and Verizon are expected to move forward aggressively with the introduction of consumer, SOHO and business wireless broadband offerings. If it’s anything similar to the early days of wired broadband, the channel will play a big part in bringing those services to market. The coming wave of true 5G services, Forman rightly pointed out, will have a ripple effect on over-saturated and overextended 4G networks, as well. As subscribers are moved off of 4G networks onto 5G services, 4G LTE networks are freed up to deliver the outcomes more appropriate to their performance and speed levels, rather than false 5G services. This is all not to suggest we are suddenly about to realize the initial promises of a 5G world in which gigabit services are delivered through zero provisioning and plug-and-play CPE. As our CVx panelist of wireless experts repeated, wireless broadband is not a silver bullet. Delivering true business-class services that your customers can rely upon requires expertise, install assessments and an understanding of the radio frequency (RF) environment, as well as a complete grasp of the use case. The size of the opportunity will make it worth these efforts. o Number of Days Required in Office (% U.S. Companies) O Days 33% 1 Day 3% 2 Days 11% 3 Days 16% 4 Days 2% 5 Days 35% Source: Flex Index, 2023 14 THE CHANNEL MANAGER’S PLAYBOOK
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