Australia looks to mmWaves for Fixed Wireless Access

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), despite being something of a graveyard for businesses, is set to grow rapidly, according to the newly published Ericsson Mobility Report. It estimates that 10% of global fixed broadband connections will be provided by FWA by 2025, representing a tripling of the number of current live FWA connections. One body that may contribute to this growth is NBN, the Australian state-owned company that has the unenviable task of providing wholesale broadband across the country’s vast territory. Wires only go so far, so NBN relies on satellite and Fixed Wireless Access connections. The NBN is already licensed to use the 2.3 GHz and 3.5 GHz bands for this service. But according to a newly-available Research Note, it is also trialling use of the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands as an upgrade to this service. These new bands offer wide and contiguous bandwidths, but also provide poor propagation. Nevertheless, NBN thinks it could provide a service across a range of 10km. NBN’s approach to the band is described in a Research Note available here as part of our Spectrum Research Service.