Why cable is going wireless

Should we dig more trenches or build more towers to bring broadband internet to a wider audience? Ten years ago, this would have been a moot point: broadband internet was only practical over wired connections via telephone lines, coax cable networks or, for a lucky few, fibre-optic links. Now, with the rapid evolution of the 3GPP LTE standard – commercial networkslaunched in January 2009 –the idea of cellular broadband backhaul is becoming a reality.

Market pull, technology push

Why is this? The answer is twofold.

Firstly, let’s look at the market demand. Consumers want to access streaming video, social media, and Internet-based services as easily when they’re out and about as when they are at home. Commercial and industrial users see business opportunities in providing cloud access and enterprises services to places where cables can’t go, and to userson the move .

Secondly, the cellular industry and regulators have been very successful in developing LTE to deliver faster broadband in response to this demand. Figure 2shows how rapidly LTE bandwidth is increasing, thanks to the evolving 3GPP LTE specification. LTE’s emergence as the dominant cellular technology, coupled with the redefinition of the smartphone as the internet access device of choice for many,has driven the standard’s evolution much faster and further than was imagined just six or seven years ago.

Read More