Samsung has published an article in Fierce Wireless explaining the value of Fixed Wireless Access solutions in providing broadband services and in closing the digital divide. Key messages in the article include:
- There is no need to dig trenches or provide time-consuming fiber drops to every home and business with FWA; service providers can deploy and get users operational in a fraction of the time fiber requires, reducing the time to market.
- Fixed Wireless Access can be delivered over low, mid and high frequencies, allowing service providers to craft the best blend of bands for their customers.
- FWA uses 4G and 5G with the same robust 3GPP security standards as public wireless networks.
- There is a large and growing range of options for customer premise equipment that supports FWA.
- FWA is less expensive to deploy than fiber. The GMSA performed stringent testing comparing FWA to Fiber to the Home (FTTH) in multiple regions with high and high/mid bands. For greenfield communities, in rural areas, GSMA found cost savings of 65-80%, while in suburban areas, mmWave (high band) showed savings of 45-70% over fiber. In urban areas, if there are existing poles or ducts for fiber, the cost savings would still be up to 10% in Europe and 20% in Latin America compared to FTTH.