The race is on!
The race started some years ago, when Google upped the ante back in 2012 and launched Google Fiber. This ignited the gigabit fever in the US market.
Now, 6 years later, many providers (including Google Fiber) have recognized that providing gigabit service via wireline technologies (Fiber, Copper and Coax) is not a easy feat. Most have scaled back or halted their deployments.
5G to the rescue
As previously discussed, 5G technology is capable of delivering fixed and mobile Internet at speeds of 1000 Mbps and more. Hence why Gigabit Wireless have been acknowledged as the most cost effective way to deliver gigabit Internet to end users.
But what really is Gigabit Wireless? Many define Gigabit Wireless as any technology capable of delivering up to 1000 mbps Internet access to a consumer via any wireless technology. Also, this definition does not differentiate between fixed access (home and businesses) and mobile access (phones, hotspots).
Having said that, how can a service provider deliver Gigabit speeds over a wireless medium? Currently, mobile operators are testing fixed wireless technologies in various band to achieve this feat. A lot of focus is being put on millimeter wave technologies in the 28 and 38 GHz bands. New companies like Starry and Phazr have prototype trials with several operators like ATT and Verizon. Other operators are focusing their efforts in microwave upper bands like 60 GHz using systems from industry veterans like Siklu and newcomers like Facebook.
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| Facebook's Terragraph node in San Jose CA |
Most of these trials and deployments are being labeled as 5G, but is 5G equal to Gigabit Wireless and vice versa? As of today, we can agree that they are equal, as both pursue the same goal of delivering Internet at 1000 mbps speeds in both fixed and mobile scenarios.
Wireline rebounds
Although the wireline industry has been stagnant for some years, new technologies capable of achieving gigabit speeds and more have been recently deployed and validated. This comeback, backed with DOCSIS 3.x and G.FAST technologies, shines a light of
retaliation to the wireless industry and shows that the wireline technologies are fighting to keep their place in the race for Internet access.
As more operators implement these technologies, more turf will be held by the wireline technologies against the posible 5G onslaught.
Can Wireline technologies stop the incoming 5G wave? That remains to been seen, but I would venture to say that the true winner of this war would be:
As more operators implement these technologies, more turf will be held by the wireline technologies against the posible 5G onslaught.
Can Wireline technologies stop the incoming 5G wave? That remains to been seen, but I would venture to say that the true winner of this war would be:
HYBRID NETWORKS
I believe that the true winner of this technology confrontation would be the concept of Hybrid Networks, the mix of both wireless and wireline. When coupled together, fiber and wireless technologies can become the true solution to scalable, fast deployable networks that can serve 1 Gbps and above speeds to the end user. A fiber networks gives you the scalability and bandwidth capacities for future growth, and the wireless networks give you the speed and the flexibility to reach the end users.
Those operators who leverage the strengths of both technologies to complement each other and provide access to the end user in the most fast and cost-effective way, would be the true winners of the 5G WARS.
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