Rysavy: Not All Technologies Equally Suitable for BEAD
Fiber, coaxial cable, fixed wireless access and satellite all meet the 100 millisecond latency requirement in June's BEAD rules restructuring, but they start to differentiate when it comes to other BEAD requirements, Rysavy Research said this week. Rysavy said FWA…
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and satellite don't readily address the 100/20 Mbps throughput requirement. SpaceX data on its Starlink service's uplink performance shows that in every state, Starlink had a range of uplink throughputs in which the lower value fell below the required 20 Mbps speed, it said. Rysavy said some quoted uplink throughput rates for FWA services fall below the required 20 Mbps threshold, though 5G network providers could meet the required threshold via outdoor antennas instead of indoor customer equipment, densifying networks and deploying additional spectrum. It said fiber and coax "offer considerable flexibility" regarding the BEAD requirement of easily scaling speeds over time. It said FWA providers can scale bandwidth through such steps as more spectrum use and deployment of better antenna systems. It questioned how easily satellite operators can scale, given the expense of satellites and their limited operational lifetimes. Rysavy said fiber and 5G-based services "clearly meet" the BEAD requirement of supporting 5G and successor wireless technologies, but called satellite "a poor choice ... due to its limited capacity and throughput rates."