Is Wireless Broadband an Alternative to Fibre?
Fibre is recognised as an excellent high bandwidth solution. Additionally, when properly installed, fiber is very reliable. But even fiber is subject to cuts, building fires and floods, earthquakes, etc.-excellent reliability, but not perfect by any means.
The problems associated with fiber deployment include:
Upfront Cost: The problem with new fiber is the cost to deploy it is often prohibitive. The dominant portions of the costs are not the glass itself, or the electronics-it is the cost of laying the fiber, and especially the cost of trenching or other methods of protecting the strands.
Installation Lead-time: In addition to the large upfront costs, there is the long lead time to install fiber networks. Fiber can take anywhere from 6 weeks to 6 months to ‘light up' once it has been ordered which can mean costly delays.
The advantages of Wireless broadband versus Fiber:
- Reliability: Up to 99.999% availability can be achieved with wireless equipment. In addition to this it is normally very easy to install a second backup wireless link connected to a different basestation, which provides even higher levels of availability. In contrast the cost to install a second fiber connection using different street duct access is normally prohibitive expensive.
- Wireless is non-terrestrial: The BigAir wireless network has been designed to completely bypass terrestrial networks for both last mile access and also backhaul links, which means the network is completely insulated from breaks in fiber-optic and copper networks which are often caused by civil works and other unexpected activities.
- Rapid deployment: Wireless connections can be installed in just hours.
- Ease of relocation: Temporary locations or businesses that relocate frequently can take advantage of wireless broadband and relocations are normally simple and not expensive. In most situations the wireless equipment can be quickly redeployed. In contrast once fiber has been laid it is a sunk cost that cannot be relocated.
- Scalability: The upgrade costs for wireless broadband services are typically much lower than legacy networks. Therefore, a business can start with just the required capacity and add to it as its requirements grow.