5G FWA: A disruptive innovation for bridging India’s digital divide

FWA (Fixed Wireless Access) is wirеlеss plug-n-play 4G/5G hotspot services with a CPE (Customer Premises Equipment). It is an innovative use case that uses 4G/5G radio spectrum to provide wireless broadband connectivity between two fixed points, for example between cell tower and a FWA device in customer’s home (CPE). The different frequency bands and available spectrum determine the broadband speeds that can be delivered and the distance over which the signal can travel. Lower frequency bands propagate the farthest but since spectrum available is less, speeds will be less. 5G in mid band spectrum (2 GHz to 6GHz) is considered to be ideal for FWA service and it gives 10 times the capacity to that of 4G. The millimetre wave spectrum (24 GHz to 39 GHz) gives high capacity and high speed but range will be less because of high path loss.

5G FWA vis-a-vis FTTH

5G is a disruptive innovation which gives 'fibre like' experience to the users. FWA is going to be a major use case of 5G. 5G FWA provides higher speeds and unlimited data with good quality of aervice. Its data rates are comparable with that of FTTH (Fibre to the Home). FWA utilises Massive Multiple- Input Multiple Output (mMIMO) networks to their full extent.

If we compare FWA service with FTTH service, provisioning time for FWA service is very less. Fibre laying costs and ROW (Right of Way) costs will not be there in FWA service. FWA is specially suitable for:

• High rise buildings for which fibre laying is a challenge

• Places where fibre penetration is not there

• Places where fibre laying is difficult, like hilly, forest and rural areas

Nowadays municipal authorities are not allowing laying of FTTH cables overhead on poles or trees on roads and so FWA service is the only option in such cases.

The availability of FWA service will be much better than that of FTTH service. FTTH service is affected by fibre cuts which happen when any agency digs the road. Taking clearance from road authorities also will delay the restoration of FTTH service. Portability is another advantage of FWA service.

MBA vis-a-vis FWA

There are two main configurations in which mobile data is delivered to customers in cell service. Mobile Broadband Access (MBA) is a popular use case in which the user’s mobile device shares data in hotspot mode. Networks can’t be fully optimised for MBA as the MNO (Mobile Network Operator) can’t know when their subscribers (including roaming ones) will use the service. FWA is the second major use case. FWA allows the network to be designed and optimised so that MNO can assure quality and speed. Another advantage of FWA over MBA is that there is no constraint of battery life as the FWA CPE works on mains power supply.

5G FWA CPE

5G FWA CPE provides fixed wireless access modem and Wi-Fi router functionally in a single device. It is mains powered and connects to the mobile network more efficiently (compared to MBA) saving valuable radio resources and giving good coverage range. This efficiency is achieved with advanced antenna design, dual connectivity, carrier aggregation and MIMO. This device is portable.

Global scenario of 5G FWA service

5G FWA has picked up world-wide, with 85 operators in 46 countries launching services by May 22. Globally, there were 100 million FWA connections in 2022. This number is estimated to grow to 300 million by end-2028, with 80 per cent of connections working on 5G.

Launching of 5G FWA service by Airtel and JIO

In the month of August 23, Airtel launched its FWA service (XStream AirFiber) in Delhi and Mumbai and became the first 5G FWA service provider in India. It wants to launch the service in multiple cities and scale up nationally in a phased manner. The XStream AirFiber devices will be manufactured in India under the 'Make in India' programme. 5G of Airtel is based on NSA (Non Stand Alone) technology (core for 4G and 5G is the same).

Jio has rolled out its 5G FWA service (AirFiber) on 19.09.23 in 8 cities. Jio 5G is based on SA (Stand Alone) technology (the core for 4G is different from the core for 5G).

Bharat AirFiber Service by BSNL

BSNL is the first telecom operator to use the term 'AirFiber'. Wherever fibres can’t be laid, BSNL is providing Bharat AirFiber service which is a wireless connectivity using unlicensed spectrum in 2.4 GHz- 5GHz frequency band. In this service, fibre connectivity is utilised up to the exchange and Line of Sight (LOS) radio waves are used from the exchange to provide broadband to villages near the exchange. Internet speed up to 100 Mbps is provided by this service. Wireless routers are used at the customers end.

BSNL 5G FWA service

BSNL has been assigned 5G mid band spectrum of 20 MHz in six LSAs, 10 MHz in two LSAs in the 2500 MHz band and 70 MHz in twenty two LSAs in the 3300 MHz band.

After launching 4G service, BSNL will upgrade its 4G network to 5G SA. One of the utilisation of the above spectrum will be to provide 5G FWA service for providing high speed internet service.

Way forward

FWA is the killer application of 5G. 5G FWA will enable the government to digitally connect India by increasing broadband penetration. It is an essential tool in bridging the digital divide.

MNOs must be cautious on how many FWA subscribers they can support. In the long term, they need to apply AI techniques to evaluate their network resources, network capacity and wireless spectrum to ensure a steady 5G FWA growth. When FWA service starts to challenge their network capacity, they have to use mmWave spectrum to guarantee the Quality of Service and network capacity.

In our country, there is strong revenue growth potential for MNOs offering 5G-based FWA service as India’s wireline broadband penetration is amongst the lowest in the world (only 35 million out of 300 million households have a wireline broadband connection). There is lot of potential in India for 5G FWA service in view of the high data consumption by the subscribers and vast geography of the country.

The cost of CPE of 5G FWA is 1.8 times the cost per connected home for FTTH service, at present. Though the high cost of CPE is a deterrent for the take off of 5G FWA service, as volumes pick up, the cost of the 5G CPE will come down. It is hoped that many small scale entrepreneurs will come forward to manufacture 5G CPEs and PLI (Productivity Linked Incentive) scheme benefits will be extended to the manufacturing of 5G CPEs.

(The author is a former Advisor, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India)