UKWISPA Market Report Release - THE ROLE OF WIRELESS NETWORKS IN ENHANCING DIGITAL CONNECTIVITY IN THE UK

In a world of fast and stable internet, it is hard to stand out as an internet service provider. Even more given that the basic service margins are getting thinner. That’s why ISPs are continuously seeking innovative ways to increase revenue via value added services. Thankfully, content filtering is a popular service for both B2B and B2C customers, making it an attractive proposition even for smaller players in the market.

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Globe utilizes state of the art solution to bring low-cost internet to more Filipino homes in hard-to-reach areas Globe, the Philippines’ leading mobile network operator is using an alternative fixed wireless broadband solution to bridge areas with no internet connectivity. Globe tapped Curvalux to enable the telco to deliver cost-effective, high-speed broadband services to urban, suburban, and rural areas using an innovative ‘phased array multibeam broadband system.’ The cutting-edge patented design of the Curvalux system delivers unmatched performance through its sophisticated multi-beam design. Sixteen narrowly focused, high-gain beams per Edge Node, can deliver incredible throughput and interference mitigation to serve hundreds of simultaneous users per Edge Node. The Curvalux system is also extremely energy efficient, allowing the entire system to be operated using low-cost solar panels and batteries. This dramatically reduces operational costs and enables deployment of the system to remote areas that were previously unserved due to the lack of a reliable power source. Globe and Curvalux have been working on this end-to-end solution for the past year and a half. The Ayala-led telco chose Curvalux for its superior performance, scalability and energy efficiency. “This technology enriches Globe’s internet solutions portfolio, allowing us to cover as many households as possible, and helps provide low cost internet in hard-to-reach areas which are currently deprived of connectivity. Our partnership with Curvalux will allow faster deployment of high speed broadband to our customers ranging from 50 to 120 Mbps average download speeds,” said Darius Delgado, Globe’s Head of Broadband Business. Globe has initially deployed this technology in 39 areas in the country and eyes expanding in 315 more areas within the year. “We are very positive that Curvalux will help us answer the ever growing demand for connectivity and wider coverage especially in areas where Globe is much needed,” added Delgado. Richard Pak, Curvalux Group CEO stated, “The outbreak of the Coronavirus has taught us the vital importance and necessity of having reliable broadband internet access to maintain daily life during the Covid-19 restrictions. We are extremely honored to be working with Globe to fulfill our mission to build an innovative and affordable wireless technology to enable broadband internet connectivity for the unconnected. It is truly an incredible privilege to see the impact of our technology in providing critical broadband services for each and every citizen of the Philippines which are so crucial for students continuing their education safely learning from home, allowing companies to continue operating and staying productive working remotely, and the comfort of being able to stay in touch with friends and family during these uncertain times.” Globe is also working with Curvalux on their Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite broadband constellation “CurvaNet”, to complete the solution portfolio. The CurvaNet satellite constellation will be able to deliver affordable broadband internet to even the most remote areas beyond the reach of any telecom towers, infrastructure or electricity with the use of its proprietary low-cost, solar powered customer terminal. Globe puts into action its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint by actively supporting the Race To Zero global campaign spearheaded by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and COP26 Presidency and backed by the GSMA, the global mobile industry body. The company strongly supports the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, particularly UN SDG No. 9 which highlights the roles of infrastructure and innovation as crucial drivers of economic growth and development. Globe is committed to upholding the 10 United Nations Global Compact principles and 10 UN SDGs. About Curvalux Curvalux is a manufacturer of Next Generation Wireless Broadband technologies with a vision; connect the underserved with sustainable solutions. Curvalux delivers higher capacity, lower cost and a broader coverage of wireless broadband for both rural and urban areas with innovative systems and carrier-grade processes. The products, solutions and services provided by Curvalux will positively impact the carbon footprint, the operators’ CAPEX and OPEX and the network performance. For more information visit https://Curvalux.com.

Curvalux, Gold Partner of the UK Wireless Internet Service Providers Association, introduced its revolutionary multi-beam phased array antenna RF system to members of UK WISPA on 5 November 2020. Initially using unlicensed frequencies in the 5GHz band, Curvalux Edge Node is a disruptive multi-beam phased array antenna RF system which dramatically out-performs omni or wide beam sector antennas that are commonly used in terrestrial wireless networks today. Curvalux uses a patented multibeam phased array beam forming technology to divide the wireless signal into many directed and tightly focused beams in two polarizations. The advantage of this technique allows for very high gain of both the transmit and receive signals resulting in much higher data rates, while requiring very low power consumption and providing much higher resistance to interference. Curvalux beamforming antennas create 7-degree beamwidth beams with side lobe suppression of more than 20 dB which allow operators to benefit from dramatically reduced interferences when using unlicensed spectrum and high order of frequency reuse that increases the overall Edge Node capacity. Richard Pak, Curvalux Group CEO, said “The Curvalux Edge Node is an open system which has been thoroughly tested and field proven with variety of legacy 5GHz access points, repeaters, and CPE´s in more than a dozen POC trials around the world, and is already being deployed by some of the largest global telecommunications operators to provide highspeed fixed wireless access and LTE offload. Introduction of the Curvalux antenna system into existing Wi-Fi 5 and Wi-Fi 6 networks currently operated by the UK WISPs will be a seamless integration which will not affect existing customers, but will dramatically increase the total capacity and performance (Mbps/Square Km) of their networks. By implementing the Curvalux Edge Node on top of existing FWA infrastructure, WISPs will considerably reduce their CAPEX and boost their customer base by being able to offer higher speed broadband access as well as extending the coverage and reach of the FWA networks in urban, suburban, and rural areas.” UK WISPA Chairman, David Burns, pointed out: “I have been watching Curvalux very closely over the past few months and I have to say I have been astounded by the innovation that they have incorporated into their antenna system. This is unlike anything I have seen in our space before and I strongly recommend that operators find out more. FWA technology is becoming quite mature and it is rare to see such a step change in performance. The Curvalux antenna system simply connects to existing access points and transforms their performance onto another level”. Nir Barkan, Curvalux UK CEO and Curvalux Group CTO, highlighted that “Curvalux has recently established a brand-new R&D centre in Sheffield which is equipped with a broadband access testing laboratory facility and has recruited a growing team of highly skilled engineers and experts from industry leading companies in RF and wireless technologies. Curvalux is very pleased to introduce itself and engage with UK WISPA members and would like to showcase its key differentiators to WISP´s who are looking at increasing their customer base with higher traffic capability, superior range and enlarged customer reach ability at the lowest possible cost”. About Curvalux Curvalux is an advanced wireless access and backbone technology with built-in backhaul relay architecture. The system provides frequency re-use, high directivity and high antenna gain dramatically increasing the throughput and range of wireless broadband connectivity to low power and low-cost user terminals, mobile phones and tablets. Curvalux sets new standards of low-cost, energy consumption, size and weight compared with other next generation mobile and fixed wireless access systems. For further details please contact: nir.barkan@curvalux.com www.curvalux.com

Terragraph technology was developed by Facebook Connectivity, a division of the social media corporation, whose mission is to bring more people online to a faster internet. Facebook Connectivity develops solutions and technologies, working closely with connectivity ecosystem partners such as service providers, equipment manufacturers and nonprofits to overcome the accessibility and affordability challenges facing global internet connectivity. Terragraph promises low cost broadband delivery at speeds of over one gigabit, with the potential for over 10 gigabits using license-exempt fixed wireless access (FWA) in the UK by the end of 2020. Members of the UK Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (UKWISPA), have met with Facebook executives and officials from equipment makers Siklu, Radwin and Cambium to discuss service launches. They want to use this for license-exempt fixed wireless access (FWA) in the UK later this year. Siklu, Radwin and Cambium Networks are all set to ship products this year, UKWISPA added. Facebook has been working on Terragraph for about five years and has conducted pilot trials with service providers in several countries using prototype equipment. Over the last couple of years, Facebook has worked closely with Qualcomm to develop this technology and has licensed it free of cost to a range of global equipment manufacturers. Facebook’s vision here is to create a robust, self-sustaining, standard (802.11AY) based ecosystem around Terragraph. This has enabled a range of UKWISPA members to release products in 2020, while others, such as MikroTik and IgniteNet, have been encouraged to commit to joining the community. David Burns, chairman of UKWISPA, told Networking+ that the general rule with networking performance is to introduce the fastest speeds possible, “so gigabit speed is a very reasonable goal today” subject to affordability. “Enterprises invest heavily in communications systems of many types and spend surprising amounts of capital and time investing in bandwidth management methods such as quality of service (QoS),” he said. “Investing in QoS is an admission that the enterprise has insufficient capacity at the right place at the right time. For example, ensuring vital voice services operate smoothly and cleanly at all times is an obvious imperative. But what if this is at the expense of other time and bandwidth sensitive applications that support remote workers?” Burns added that VPNs and remote desktop services “are also very sensitive to the jitter and latency” typified by over-contended networks “and most QoS techniques crudely reserve minimum data commitment rates”. He continued: “As more workers spend more time out of the office and as more internal and external meetings become online meetings, fast networks will become more important than having desks, chairs and an office to keep them. In the end, gigabit internet connectivity will be far more valuable and cost a lot less than the empty desks abandoned by home workers.” “Facebook recognised that new applications require high speed connectivity and, with data consumption growing at an ever-increasing rate, the demand for broadband cannot be currently met with existing last mile technologies,” added Neeraj Bhatia, product manager at Facebook Connectivity. “With Terragraph, Facebook is creating a robust ecosystem to address this gap and serve under-connected communities faster and at much lower cost to service providers and end consumers. We have helped assemble a technology stack with a range of OEM partners, assisted with the specification of IEEE 802.11ay standards, and built an open ecosystem to realise the potential for mm wave technology.” “Terragraph uses the wide spectrum available in 60 GHz frequency band to deliver multi-gigabit speeds and uses a unique mesh solution, based on OpenR, to overcome line-of-sight (LOS) challenges to achieve high network availability and reliability.” Burns said, “This method perfectly complements fibre build out,” where the Terragraph mesh fills gaps that would be expensive to install otherwise.

The Scottish Government today introduces the Scottish Broadband Voucher Scheme (SBVS) to fixed wireless broadband operators during a UK Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (UKWISPA) @Home Members Meeting. Fixed Wireless Access broadband has been identified as the most economic and fastest way to deliver high speed internet access in some of the most challenging parts of the country. To extend superfast connectivity to reach 100% of premises as part of its R100 goal, the Scottish Government selected UK WISPA to host the industry briefing which attracted over 100 delegates from UK WISPA, INCA and ISPA. David Burns, Chairman of UKWISPA commented, “UKWISPA warmly welcomes this initiative from the Scottish Government. Fixed Wireless Access broadband is an ideal solution for much of rural Scotland and our members will be working hard to connect as many properties as possible and to far exceed the speed target of 30 Mbps.” The new SBVS is well suited to helping small local and community operators to build superfast networks in their areas. Today’s introduction to the scheme hosted by UKWISPA will help local fixed wireless providers subsidise the connections for the most difficult remaining properties in Scotland. Burns added, “We would urge operators who wish to take part in the scheme to register as soon as possible for registration to be processed in time for the scheme’s full launch in September. In doing so, we believe the fixed wireless industry will have a key role in the success of extending connectivity to reach 100% of premises in Scotland.”

The number of Fixed Wireless Access internet providers across the UK jumps as homes and businesses create demand for faster broadband. Ofcom , the regulating body of UK communications services, has also joined the UK Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (UKWISPA), the official trade body recognised by UK authorities for the high-standard delivery of internet access services. Becoming a key stakeholder in UKWISPA, Ofcom is recognizing fixed wireless as a mainstream broadband service to the public.