Internet access needs to be both fiber and fixed wireless

Vox Pop

An estimated 285,000 Wisconsin residents and businesses currently lack access to reliable internet. Cost effective technology exists to address this connectivity gap sooner rather than later, but instead, some legislators are doubling down on a non-competitive position that “only fiber” will bridge the digital divide in Wisconsin. If AB303 becomes law, it will set minimum speed thresholds of 100 download (as to which there is broad agreement) and 100 upload (as to which there is no supporting data), effectively ruling out non-fiber solutions like fixed wireless access (FWA) for the hard-todeploy last mile between fiber and the location in need of connectivity.

These symmetrical speeds are unnecessary. Fiber is the only technology that delivers them, but consumer usage patterns continue to show no need for symmetry. The federal government’s guidance and widelyaccepted data from Commscope shows that download speeds need to be 12-14 times higher than upload speeds to meet connectivity needs today and in the future.

Think of a video call for remote education with 20 participants. In this scenario, there are 20 download data streams to 1 upload stream. When streaming entertainment, it’s all download. These common usage patterns simply do not support deploying the resources for 100 Mbps upload speeds. Standards set for the federal Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program (BEAD) funding are at 100/20, which Governor Evers supports and FWA meets.

A recent inCode (a division of Ericsson) study estimates Wisconsin has 285K un- and under-served households and will receive an estimated $1.4B in BEAD funding. This level of funding can support an average fiber cost per household of up to $7,075, but the current average estimated cost per household is over $10,000. Consequently, a bill prioritizing 100/100 would leave 30% of Wisconsin’s un- and under-served locations behind. That’s more than 85,000 rural locations across the state without broadband. That’s unacceptable, especially when technologies exist now to cover all their needs at a fraction of the cost. Estimates show that 5G FWA in the last mile can cost nearly 40% less than a wired or fiber solution.

UScellular is not anti-fiber — we need fiber to reach our towers to provide mobile and FWA connectivity. We share Wisconsin’s desire to bridge the digital divide and, as a result, warn against discounting the role that reliable technologies like FWA must play to get residences and businesses connected.

If passed as is, AB303 will strand rural residents and businesses. However, if AB303 is amended to afford the state the flexibility to deploy whichever technology will get residents and business connected in a timely manner, Wisconsin will be able to get all its un- and under-connected locations online.

Now is the time to connect all rural communities and businesses, but it requires a mix of reliable technologies, fiber and FWA, for the state to choose from.

— Stephanie Cassioppi - Senior Director of Government Affairs at UScellular, Chicago, Ill.