RST Global to Offer Gigabit Broadband Across North Carolina Using Wi-Fi

The latest gigabit network announcement comes from competitive carrier RST Global Communications. And there is a major difference between it and the other dozen or two gigabit network announcements that we’ve seen in the US to date.

While most gigabit offerings are based on fiber-to-the-home, RST hopes to serve the entire state of North Carolina by using gigabit Wi-Fi based on the 802.11ac standard for the final hop to residential customers, said company CEO Dan Limerick in an interview. That standard supports extended range as far as 3,000 meters, as well as symmetrical gigabit speeds, Limerick said.

Additionally RST plans to use a mesh network approach so that “the network perpetuates itself,” Limerick said. “We will put radios all across North Carolina, including rural areas,” said Limerick. RST has completed construction on a 3,100-mile 100 Gbps fiber backbone network across North Carolina and will be adding fiber laterals into individual communities that will provide backhaul connectivity for the gigabit offering. Additionally the company plans to offer service at speeds as high as 100 Gbps over landline infrastructure to business customers.