Frontier, CenturyLink, Windstream see broadband wireless as a gap filler for CAF-II obligations, but is it optimal?

[Commentary] Frontier's recent revelation that it intends to use fixed wireless to address the rural broadband availability problem using the second phase of the Federal Communications Commission’s Connect America Fund (CAF-II) program is set on a simple goal: extend broadband to areas where deploying wireline facilities is prohibitive. What’s interesting about Frontier is that other than being a supplier of backhaul, the company is mainly a wireline carrier.

Can it effectively overcome engineering and regulatory challenges to complement rural wireline broadband with wireless? There’s both regulatory and technical challenges. Putting aside these challenges, it's hard to not to see the benefits wireless broadband could bring for rural providers. These telcos can use a complementary approach to address remote areas that are still difficult to address even with CAF-II funding today.