Tarana Wireless, Inc.

BEAD

The New Way to Win BEAD: ngFWA

New BEAD Rules Require a New Approach

Now that BEAD is technology agnostic, thanks to the recent restructuring, ISPs can select the optimal tool for the job. The NTIA made certain requirements clear, including speed and latency, but also introduced important terms, including support for capacity scaling over time and 5G/advanced services. Further, they opened the door for unlicensed fixed wireless (ULFW), but with the proviso that specific technology capabilities need to be present to ensure reliable operation over time. 
 
The well-proven, high performance, ease of deployment, and compelling network economics of Tarana’s next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) platform can make BEAD program goals truly achievable within the boundaries of available funds, both in licensed and unlicensed spectrum.
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G1 is Fulfilling ngFWA’s Promise Across the US and the World

Our quickly-expanding partnerships with ISPs both in the US and beyond over the past three years have yielded compelling evidence of the step-function improvements in broadband performance and network economics our ngFWA platform (G1) can deliver — well beyond the capabilities of both licensed and unlicensed legacy FWA solutions. G1’s unique combination of fiber-class performance — even in the face of interference and obstructions — along with the lean deployment economics of macro-cellular wireless is proving to be a winning combination for initiatives in both mainstream broadband markets as well as digital-divide projects.

An Illustrative G1 Case Study: DigitalPath’s Deployment Around California’s Clear Lake

As one excellent example of the unique real-world network performance and economics G1 ngFWA deployments can achieve in divide applications, we’d like to highlight briefly DigitalPath’s deployment in California’s Clear Lake area. With a CBRS (3 GHz) G1 deployment on a well-placed tower on the southwest edge of the lake, the network is covering 360 square miles of mostly lightly settled land around the lake. The average service speeds delivered are 500 Mbps DL / 132 UL (265/66 minimum), at an average of 5.5 miles from the tower.

For comparison, we modeled an aerial fiber deployment to serve the same 76 locations, with a trunk along the main roads that circle the lake, a small number of branches to reach clusters of locations not close to the trunk, and laterals to the locations from there (as at right). Reaching all 76 locations would require approximately 110 miles of fiber. Using common industry benchmarks for deployment costs and timelines, the comparison with the DigitalPath ngFWA deployment is striking:

Fiber ngFWA
Total project cost, $k [a] 2,900 180
Cost per location served, $k 38 2.4
Months to complete service 10-14 [b] 6

Notes: [a] Fiber project cost based on rural aerial fiber deployment median cost ($5.00/foot) from the Fiber BroadbandAssociation’s recently issued Fiber Deployment Annual Report 2023. ngFWA costs are DigitalPath’s actuals. [b] Timing depends on installation crew availability. Fiber costs would be ~2x higher and deployment timelines ~3x longer if trenched.

Related BEAD Documents

ngFWA Network Deployments’ Qualifications
As Priority Broadband Projects

ngFWA’s Unique Level of Appendix A Compliance

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