In a recent report, Nokia revealed its top five 5G use cases across a number of different industry sectors, and fixed wireless access, or FWA, was in the company’s shortlist of key opportunities for communication service providers (CSPs).
FWA is an appealing alternative to wired broadband for SMBs, and Nokia’s report found that “fixed wireless access emerged from our survey as a strong near-term opportunity”. With 73% of SMBs surveyed saying that 5G FWA was appealing as an alternative or back-up to wired broadband.
Identifying this opportunity, Nokia has been working with key partners to develop FWA, and has today announced that Swisscom will deploy Nokia FastMile 5G Receivers, primarily in rural areas in Switzerland to offer ultra-fast broadband services.
The Nokia FastMile 5G Receiver combines indoor and outdoor technology, enabling Swisscom to deploy FWA via a single device, which is simple enough for the end user to install.
"This solution will help us to bring ultra-fast internet speeds to our residential and business customers."
Marcel Burgherr, Swisscom.
“We have chosen Nokia as our 5G fixed wireless access device partner,” said Marcel Burgherr, head of gateways, phones and other devices, at Swisscom. “This solution will help us to bring ultra-fast internet speeds to our residential and business customers in rural areas.”
5G FWA is here to stay
The 5G Receiver offers better performance and reliability by employing carrier aggregation between 4G and 5G bands. It also connects to existing home networks via ethernet.
"5G fixed wireless access is a perfect complement to fiber-to-the-home networks. It can efficiently deliver ultra-fast speeds."
Sandra Motley, Nokia.
“5G fixed wireless access is a perfect complement to fiber-to-the-home networks. It can efficiently deliver ultra-fast speeds to areas that are unserved or under-served by fiber,” said Sandra Motley, president of fixed networks at Nokia. “With the combined experience of Nokia and Swisscom, we were able to develop an innovative and effective solution. We are delighted to partner with Swisscom on its broadband vision with 5G FWA.”
Nokia will be Swisscom’s exclusive supplier for 5G FWA. The solution will help Swisscom to quickly meet demand for broadband services.
“5G fixed wireless deployments are accelerating globally,” explained Jeff Heynen, vice president, broadband access and home networking at Dell’Oro Group. “To meet subscriber demand, service providers want FWA CPE that provide flexible mounting options as well as zero-touch provisioning.”
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