April 18, 2019
Using Microwave to Deliver Rural Broadband to Underserved Communities
By Jim Hong, Director of Wireless Broadband Solutions
The new and exciting news in Government Funding – The latest round of CAF-II has been awarded and now WISPs and Rural Operators are expanding their coverage into rural areas that have little or no Internet access.
What comprises complex rural networks? A combination of microwave Point-to-Point and Point-to-Multipoint technologies are being used to reach remote WISP and Rural Operator customers and deliver high-speed internet: up to 20 Gbps on the backbone and hundreds of megabits per household.
Originated at the fiber termination endpoint, microwave radios bring bandwidth to towers near the neighborhoods via Point-to-Point backbone link. From these towers, Point-to-Multipoint radio technology is used for the final delivery to the home.
The importance of reliable backbone links for WISPs and Rural Operators cannot be understated. In order to deliver a high-performance customer experience, the backbone must be low latency with high availability. WISPs and Rural Operators benefit from using microwave radios in their network:
- Meet capacity demands. Adding more microwave radios across multiple bands increases capacity.
- Reach rural customers. Rural and hard-to-reach-areas can be easily addressed and serviced with all outdoor, easy to install microwave radios.
- Achieve optimal performance: microwave radios have superior features to assure the best performance such as 4KQAM/112MHz Dual-Core Modem
- Lower costs: Cost of the network turns out to be more reasonable then fiber due to lower implementation cost per mile.
- Simplify deployments: cloud-based tools allow users to effectively plan, monitor, and maintain their microwave backbone links.
How do you pick a radio that is right for your needs? It is important to select a microwave radio that can grow with the increasing bandwidth needs. Microwave radios with 10 Gbps interfaces are becoming the norm today. Many WISPs and Rural Operators start with single carrier radios and turn on additional carriers in the future when network utilization increases.
The WTM 4000 family of radios are the highest capacity microwave radios on the market and are popular with the WISP and Rural Operator market because of ease of installation with an all outdoor design, dual 10 Gbps interfaces, and the ability to increase capacity with carrier aggregation, and radio stacking (2+0, 4+0, 8+0).
Beyond radio products, Aviat is helping WISPs and Rural Operators to enter this lucrative market and navigate them through complexities.
Aviat Store makes the radio purchasing simplified and avoids unnecessary markups from third parties. We made sure to meet the price point of modern WISP and Rural Operator networks. In addition, you’ll get next day shipping for Aviat Store orders* to ensure you meet tight project timelines and you’ll be able to see on-hand inventory so you can plan your deployments and purchases effectively.
Aviat Design helps to configure microwave backbone links. You can select the correct model radio and antenna based on capacity, frequency band, and geography. Using the tool, a complete radio network design can be planned to meet the needs of WISPs and Rural Operators today and into the future. Access Aviat Store and Aviat Design by visiting, www.aviatcloud.com.
Designed, manufactured, and supported in the USA. Our radios are designed, built and supported all within the USA. Aviat’s nationwide presence includes Corporate Headquarters and R&D center, manufacturing, and comprehensive in-country deployment services and after-sales support network. Combined with our 70+ year presence and expertise, you can be assured of superior products and support for all your microwave needs.
*Subject to stock availability
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