Could Fixed Wireless Access Bridge the Digital Divide?

With the ability to be deployed more quickly than fiber at a possible lower cost–especially in rural, hard-to-reach areas–fixed wireless access (FWA) offers service providers another tool to give more people access to internet connectivity. A digital divide exists because provision of broadband is uneconomical. Both the terms of broadband subsidies and the desires of users require relatively rapid deployment, and FWA can be deployed much more quickly than fiber. It can also cost less, especially in the areas where a digital divide is more likely to persist. For homes outside urban areas, the cost of delivering high-speed broadband may be higher than the amount operators can afford to pay; FWA can deliver gigabit connectivity while having the advantage of being less expensive than fiber outside of urban areas, where buildings are spaced further apart and the distances over which the fiber needs to be “dug” are greater. Intuitively, FWA is increasingly advantageous compared with fiber when homes are more widely spaced and the subscription rate is lower. When looking at ways to bridge the digital divide, FWA has a low up-front cost–which is minimally affected by how rural deployments are–and low risk if fewer homes take the service.

[William Webb is the CTO of Cambridge Broadband Networks Group.]