Fixed wireless access set to ‘go rural’
Cloud software specialist Mavenir has blended its Open Virtualized RAN, Converged Packet Core and OpenBeam portfolio of radio units into a Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) system that could extend their remit enormously. The integration gives mobile network operators and broadband providers the chance to please consumers and businesses in urban and suburban areas with more options to select the best service that covers their needs at affordable prices, it claims. The Mavenir offering creates a low-footprint installation that straddles the public and private clouds.
The new technology blend promises to give mobile operators high throughput, the power to vary the quality of service, geo-restriction, home-zoning, discretionary charging and advanced power savings among other features. For rural areas, FWA provides higher downlink speeds than DSL and lower packet latency than most satellite internet service providers. This creates new use cases that were not possible in rural areas before, such as telemedicine, online education and working from home.
Mavenir’s FWA system supports 4G, 5G NSA (non-standalone) and 5G SA deployment. It works with massive MIMO radio technology and 5G millimeter wave frequency bands to create gigabit downlink speeds for multiple users in the same coverage area. This positions 5G FWA as a competitive alternative, according to Mavenir. “5G and Open RAN make it easier and more feasible to connect the unconnected and foster much needed competition,” said BG Kumar, Mavenir’s president of access networks and platforms.
Fixed wireless access in combination with radio formats like LTE and 5G give a much more stable performance than the 802.11-based links that are popular today, according to Joe Madden, chief analyst for Mobile Experts. In Madden’s tests, the packet loss of FWA with LTE was one eightieth of that from the wi-fi based link. “Four years ago, higher packet loss may have been acceptable, but not in my home environment,” said Madden. “For that reason, our forecasting anticipates a strong trend toward 3GPP technology in FWA,” said Madden, “Open RAN solutions will be popular for their low cost.”
Mavenir’s FWA is already used by Quickline in the United Kingdom.