Why Fixed Wireless Is the Solution

Fixed wireless network deployment had a rollercoaster ride in the past decade! In late 90s, they became darling of all technology evangelists all around the World. Cheap and easy to deploy; compare to costly and difficult fiber and cable deployment, it was considered the next big thing to happen. VCs start to invest in start ups developing technologies and big telecom companies start to invest heavily in fixed wireless license acquisitions all around the World. The dot com bust of early 2000 and lack of standardizations push all of these efforts to a virtual halt around 2002. Lots of vendors went bankrupt and operators abandoned expensive acquired wireless licenses without using them at all. Things became worse around 2005 when fiber and cable coverage in urban areas reach its peak.

But, since 2007 signs of a slow recovery start to show up in the horizon. A general increase in bandwidth demand for residential and small business in urban areas brings back fixed wireless as a potential front runner. Easy to deploy and providing a sizable coverage in different Midwest areas, proved fixed wireless as a potential contender for broadband networks. After WiMAX Forum finalized its standardization efforts late 2007, suddenly the whole hype was back! Government stimulation package for rural broadband was the last good news for fixed wireless camp. With vast rural areas and sporadic pockets of population, US is the best candidate for a massive fixed wireless roll out. Instead of trenching and running cable all around mountains and deserts, it is easy to set up a base station on top of water tower in the neighborhood and you have full coverage.