New study highlights potential of wireless and satellite to deliver next generation broadband – 28 October 2010
The Broadband Stakeholder Group has published a new study by Analysys Mason on the costs and capabilities of wireless and satellite technologies. The report provides a snapshot view looking forward to 2016 and finds that:
- Wireless and satellite technologies will have an important role to play in delivering ubiquitous next generation broadband across the UK and should be incorporated into policy thinking about the evolution of the UK’s broadband network.
- It is highly likely that they can be deployed more cost effectively than alternative fixed-line technologies in some rural areas whilst delivering a quality of service that will be sufficient to meet the growing demand for capacity from households and small businesses through the decade ahead.
- The release of additional spectrum and the use of smart technologies to reduce busy hour traffic, in particular by caching popular video content on digital video recorders (so called ‘side-loading’) can further reduce deployment costs and increase service capabilities. If more spectrum was devoted to the provision of broadband services, terrestrial wireless technology could provide a more cost effective alternative to fixed NGA to most homes across much of the so-called final third.
This report complements the study that the BSG commissioned on the costs of capabilities of fibre in 2008 and helps to build a fuller picture of the role that different technologies could play in delivering a truly ubiquitous next generation broadband Britain.
The study can be downloaded in full at www.broadbanduk.org/wirelesssatellitecosts