Fiber or Fixed Wireless Access: What’s the best way to connect transient populations?

As the US government slowly works its way toward allocating $42.5 billion in broadband funding and concerns about Federal Communication Commission's broadband maps reach a fever pitch, the most marginalized communities in unserved locales are waiting. And that wait for an internet connection feels like it has lasted forever. While fiber has emerged as a focal point in the National Telecommunication and Information Administration's (NTIA) Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) rules, it’s worth noting some of the communities that remain unconnected are transient in nature, like people who live in recreational vehicles or trailer parks. Others are Indigenous Americans who live on Tribal Lands. Within rural communities, fiber construction can cost as much as $60,000 to $100,000 per mile. Thus, Mariel Triggs, CEO of MuralNet—a company that works with tribal nations to design and build broadband infrastructure—believes that the best course of action for rural tribal communities may be to develop middle-mile fiber, drop to anchor institutions or stable housing, and provide wireless options to households and businesses that may be too remote for fiber’s reach. Evan Feinman, NTIA Program Director for BEAD, believes that even in larger, less-dense states, fiber will be built out as far as possible. Fixed wireless will be deployed to serve people outside of that reach.