• A proof of concept run by Comsol has found that standards-based fixed wireless access can bridge the digital divide.
• The test saw 300 homes connected to uncapped fixed wireless broadband at a cost of less than R300 per month per household.
• The worst performing speed registered during the test was 50Mbps.

When talking about high-speed broadband one will often think of fibre as the best solution for this.

However, laying down fibre infrastructure can be a costly exercise which fibre network operators need to recoup through folks making use of that infrastructure and cost of accessing these services can be high.

There is another solution of course – fixed wireless broadband access. However, this solution can also be expensive as anybody who makes use of last-mile wireless services can attest to.

Over the last 12 months, however, Comsol has been testing a proof of concept that it says proves that uncapped high-speed internet is possible and profitable at R300 per month per household.

This was accomplished by using standards based 4G and 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solutions. In this proof of concept, Comsol connected 300 homes in a community at varying charges (depending on the solution) at a cost of less than R300 per month. According to Comsol, the worst performing link in this proof of concept registered a speed of 50Mbps.

“Standards-based FWA can help bridge the digital divide,” says Comsol chief executive officer, Iain Stevenson.

“Fibre is effectively connecting the higher LSM segment of the market. While fibre is passing 4 million homes and 500 000 businesses, only around 1.7 million homes and 115 000 businesses are connected and serviced by fibre,” the CEO says.

One of the aspects that holds FWA back is that deployments often make use of proprietary platforms that only add to the cost.

“We have deployed a cloud-native open-core software platform; there are costs to build, interface and make it work, which we have achieved at a fraction of the traditional cost. We also have virtualised the radio access network (RAN) components, making it cheaper. A key piece to the overall solution is licensed spectrum – and Comsol holds 392 MHz of the 3.7GHz and 28GHz bands in South Africa which are solely focused on the deployment of FWA,” says Stevenson.

This proof of concept has proven so successful that Comsol is now looking at expanding its business into the residential and lower LSM markets. This is notable as Comsol has traditionally played in the enterprise space.

More than that though, this solution has the added benefit of stoking the economies of the communities they occupy.

“The businesses and homeowners are very happy – they have a premium service, priced right, and they can consume as much as they want. We have a Virtual Network Operator (VNO) who lives in the community, supported by Comsol expertise for installations and maintenance. The pilot illustrated that the economics work; and we now plan to expand this model to other areas,” the CEO says.

This is all very exciting and we’re keeping an eye on Comsol and other players in the market to see if this proof of concept is implemented more widely.

[Image – Naseem Buras on Unsplash]