Nov 09, 2021

CENIC Perspectives: Hybrid Approach to Last-Mile Connectivity Should Include Wireless

One solution is hardly the answer to solve any problem. The digital divide is no different. Finite broadband funding will stretch further when hybrid network approaches are used. As we are entering a moment where decisions are being made about state and federal broadband resources, policymakers should focus on standards for what constitutes broadband rather than the specific technology chosen for last-mile infrastructure.

Fiber-optic cable is not the singular solution. In areas where fiber-only networks are geographically or economically prohibitive, wireless technologies can help connect more areas and often in a shorter time frame. Wireless technologies have made great advances in recent years and several approaches that may prove especially useful for last-mile solutions include fixed wireless, 5G, and WiFi 6. Each of these technologies can be complementary as fixed wireless can be used in combination with the latest generations of cellular and WiFi technologies to provide robust, reliable, gigabit broadband access.

CENIC has partnered with commercial service providers on over a hundred fixed wireless deployments at libraries, university research sites, and most often to connect remote schools. Fixed wireless Internet uses broadcast towers to transmit and receive Internet signals in the form of radio waves, eliminating the need for phone or cable lines. Fixed wireless can connect users in remote areas without the need for laying new cables, be installed relatively quickly, provide symmetrical services and gigabit speeds over existing spectrum bands, and be connected to fiber-optic cables at the backend as part of hybrid networks.

A project currently underway, a partnership between the Val Verde School District in Riverside County and fixed wireless provider GeoLinks, will provide two options for students and their families. The first is a gigabit symmetrical service, which requires a technician to install a receiver at the residence, and the second, which will offer 100-500Mbps down and 20-100Mbps up, requires no installation, as it uses wireless mesh technologies. Such an approach is ideal for older multi-tenant housing lacking a contemporary twisted pair ethernet cable or fiber to each residence, or where an installation in every unit is disruptive, cost-prohibitive, or blocked by property owners. The Val Verde School Board voted to contribute $5 million to the project in order to ensure that low-income households with students in school will receive these services for free. Families who can afford the service will pay $49/month for the gigabit service and $19/month for the megabit service — both very competitive rates. GeoLinks hopes to extend this service to the surrounding communities.

Fixed wireless also enables reliable and redundant multi-gigabit broadband access on Santa Catalina Island. Located nearly 30 miles off the coast of California, the island had an ongoing problem securing high-speed Internet access until GeoLinks constructed a network using multiple paths over various frequencies, including mobile and WiFi capabilities, to deliver redundant backhaul. The network’s tower coverage is supported by CENIC’s fiber-optic backbone. Construction of the fixed wireless network took about two months.

The latest cellular and WiFi technologies can be used to augment hybrid wired and wireless last-mile solutions and can complement fiber networks without the need to run fiber all the way to the home. Both 5G and WiFi 6 can achieve connectivity that competes with wired Internet, capable of gigabit speeds and significant improvements in latency while supporting many more connected devices. The increased speed of 5G is achieved partly by using additional higher-frequency radio waves in addition to the low- and medium-band frequencies used in previous cellular networks. Still, these higher-frequency radio waves have a shorter useful physical range. The next generation of WiFi, WiFi 6, can extend coverage to indoor or high-density locations that are not easily serviced by 5G.

To serve its many constituents, CENIC works with hundreds of private sector organizations, from fast-growing California companies like GeoLinks and Etheric Networks to major national corporations like AT&T and Verizon to equalize broadband opportunities despite constraints such as geography.

Wireless is only getting faster and it provides many options in terms of speed, coverage, and penetration, said Professor Ramesh Rao, director of the Qualcomm Institute at the University of California San Diego. “If you want to reach the largest number of people, with the most cost-effective solutions, it’s impossible for me to imagine a scenario where wireless wouldn’t be used,” Rao said. “Pulling fiber-optic cable to every home in a rural area would be very expensive, but you could perhaps get within five miles and use wireless technology from there.”

Advances in wireless, including 5G and its expansion into new spectrum, are providing more last-mile options, said Jeff Luong, president of broadband access and adoption initiatives for AT&T. “We need to leverage all technologies available in order to connect every citizen in the state and in the country, and now more than ever we finally have the ability to do that,” Luong said. “The deployment of middle-mile fiber connected to last-mile solutions in remote areas will allow us to use wireless technologies such as 5G to connect some of those hard-to-reach communities.”

“The last-mile approach has to focus on flexibility and choosing technologies that work best for each unique area,” said Melissa Slawson, general counsel and vice president of government affairs and education for GeoLinks. “When multiple technologies are leveraged, more areas can be connected and often in a less expensive, more rapidly deployable, and equally scalable way.”

While fiber-optic broadband is the clear favorite for robust and reliable connectivity, it is not a panacea. A hybrid approach to last-mile connectivity and achieving gigabit connectivity for all Californians should consider viable wireless options to connect unserved and underserved households in a cost-effective and timely manner.

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