Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is an effective and scalable cellular wireless option for broadband connectivity to stationary equipment that provides Internet access.
5G Americas, the voice of 5G and LTE for the Americas announced the publication of a white paper. Fixed Wireless Access with 5G Networks, which details how FWA might impact the broadband market with opportunities for 5G based residential service in urban and rural geographies.
Chris Pearson, president of 5G Americas, said, “5G-based FWA can help narrow the digital divide, which has become even more important since the global COVID pandemic.3GPP-based mobile operators can bring a feasible broadband option to rural and underserved areas with rapid and efficient deployment of 5G technologies. They can take advantage of underutilized and undeployed spectrum bands to support new and increasing demand from residential broadband customers.”
5G FWA can eliminate the need for costly deployment of fixed access infrastructure while it offers significant peak download and upload rates. As 5G networks evolve, FWA solutions are expected to achieve massive scale, with 10 to 100 times more capacity than 4G networks.
Additionally, the white paper provides deployment considerations for mobile operators regarding spectrum availability of low, mid and mmWave band spectrum. It describes how physical location, small cell siting and other considerations can impact FWA and how capacity, product speeds, 5G New Radio technologies involving beamforming and high order modulation and customer premise equipment strategy will play a vital role in its rollout to customers.
Fixed Wireless Access with 5G Networks examines these areas:
- Fixed wireless access background and how COVID-19 impacts progress of FWA
- FWA use cases
- 5G features and capabilities that will elevate FWA in the 5G radio access network (RAN) and core networks
- Spectrum considerations with an insight into sites, product speeds, capacity, and customer premise equipment
- Security advantages of 5G-based FWA
- The regulatory environment around FWA
