Rural FWA operators start to 'edge-in'

For rural operators, fixed wireless access (FWA) technologies have served well to "edge-out" and deliver services to areas that can't be reached by cable and fiber networks cost-effectively. But thanks to the beneficial economics of FWA paired with some of the capabilities packed into the latest generation of equipment, those operators are also looking to "edge-in" and bring wireless broadband to pockets of urban markets that aren't adequately covered by wireline networks, said Bill Baker, CEO of Nextlink Internet, a provider of wireline and wireless broadband in parts of eight states. FWA rollout costs are low, and deployments of the customer premises equipment (CPE) are driven on a success-based model. Unlike fiber buildouts, FWA deployments only need 1-2 percent of the market share to be financially viable, which makes it easier for formally rural-focused operators to expand into urban markets.