|
Fixed wireless access (FWA) emerged as a business networking solution at a time when Asian incumbents were reluctant to unbundle the local loop for broadband competition. To counteract incumbents’ delaying tactics, a number of competitive carriers and emerging broadband providers started examining various alternate broadband-capable access options.
FWA has caught the attention of some emerging providers and ISPs .as a cost-effective solution strongly backed by local governments in individual Asia-Pacific economies.
FWA is defined as a networking solution that has fixed endpoints and shared use of frequency spectrum by customers. We exclude point-to-point microwave and free space optics, although it is feasible to build mesh networks that could compete with LMDS.
Wireless broadband not only serves as a new delivery platform for the provision of bandwidth-intensive applications. More important, it presents a great opportunity for service providers to generate new revenues. SMEs and consumers desire r bandwidth and faster connectivity despite the ailing economy.
Users are interested in next-generation access bandwidth in the 10-Mbps range. This enables FWA providers to distinguish themselves from Asian incumbents that generally offer solutions for up to 2 Mbps, and then 34 Mbps/E3 or 45 Mbps/T3.
Compared to fiber broadband solutions, fixed wireless broadband is easier to deploy, cost -effectives and scalable.
Service providers can build networks using a wide spectrum of wireless broadband technologies, portrayed according to span and bandwidth capacity in Exhibit 1. The diagram shows the market positioning of various mobile wireless technologies.
3G has the potential to influence FWA solutions because it provides broadband rates to stationary terminals. Early rollouts of 3G will focus on the technology’s mobility because it will be an expensive alternative to FWA.
In this report, we discuss the uptake of fixed wireless services in the region. Aside from examining Asian regulators’ role in promoting fixed wireless access technologies through the wireless spectrum allocation and licensing scheme, we also discuss the role of wireless LANs in bridging the last-mile broadband access gap in Asia-Pacific.
|
