Wireless is a salvation for broadband connectivity

An interesting debate about next-generation broadband centres on the lack of incentive for network operators, as they struggle to make investment business cases work because of lack of “killer” applications.

So far, the only speed and latency drivers seem to be about downloading multiple video streams simultaneously or enabling real-time global game playing.

We must look again at the demands of schools, colleges and universities across the UK, as well as the facilities for home learning, to establish their future requirements for next-generation broadband. We would find many of the same issues faced when deploying first-generation broadband, in particular ubiquity.

The implication of this geographic ubiquity for the deployment of future broadband will mean, among other things, a rapid increase in wireless replacing fibre for broadband connectivity, for the following reasons.

Ubiquity: Everyone in broadband Britain expects to have access to their applications 24/7. Applications are written assuming the user has broadband access and with no concession made for those that do not.

Cost: Unless we all hold shares in the construction companies who would no doubt love the idea of bringing the country to its knees as they dig up any road they can get a JCB down, UK plc will be better off, both collectively and as individual users, by using radio spectrum for broadband. It is cheaper, quicker and greener.

Resilience: When an optical cable is broken it stays broken for a long time. Wireless broadband can be engineered to be multi-sourced: it is airborne so does not risk having a pick axe put through it, and modern radios automatically adapt to the environment at any point, so service may degrade under fault conditions but service continues.

Flexibility: Speed of deployment and the commonality of the air space we all share means that users can get rapid access to wireless broadb and networks when they need it. And if they want to change supplier they can do so without having to go through the painful process of switching telecoms companies or a new cable dig.

Performance: There is no question that fibre holds the land speed record overall, but performance of wireless has radically improved over the years and now multiple Gigabit connection speeds are possible, often with higher availability than fibre. Also, WiMax promises the type of user connectivity that will support all of the must-have, high-performance applications for many years.

Given that everyone will expect to have access to the same applications and performance for the next-generation broadband era, regardless of their location or personal infrastructure circumstance and not caring about speeds and feeds, the industry will need to provide all sorts of ingenious ways to deliver the necessary bandwidth. Radio/wireless will be a vital part of the mix.

Kenny Kamal is chief technology officer of MLL Telecom and a BCS contributor