Australian broadband provider nbn announced that it had chosen Nokia to provide 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) mmWave customer premises equipment (CPE) for the latter’s fixed wireless network expansion. According to a press statement from the Finnish vendor, this upgrading effort will allow nbn to provide higher connections to thousands of homes and companies in semi-rural, regional, and remote Australia.
Details About Nokia’s 5G mmWave FWA Technology
Almost 650,000 buildings are currently covered by the FWA network that nbn currently has in Australia. With the help of the upgrade initiative, nbn’s current fixed wireless footprint will increase by up to 50%, giving access to fixed wireless services to about 120,000 formerly satellite-only qualified homes. The 28 GHz frequency is used by the 5G mmWave upgrade and is used in Non-Standalone (NSA) mode. The equipment will be utilised as a part of the nbn Fixed Wireless and Satellite Upgrade Program, a $750 million investment in the nbn Fixed Wireless network. Of this amount, $480 million will come from the Australian Government, with an additional $270 million coming from nbn. A 300% rise in demand is projected for data on their fixed wireless network over the next 10 years, according to Jason Ashton, executive general manager, fixed wireless and satellite at nbn. The nbn can significantly increase the range, speed, and capacity of our current fixed wireless network and enhance the user experience by using Nokia’s 5G mmWave solution to better leverage both their sub 6 GHz and 5G mmWave spectrum allocations. In order to meet the throughput and capacity needs of the nbn, Nokia also claimed that its mmWave solution brings a cutting-edge antenna design that can use mmWave to a range of up to 10 km. The CPE consists of an outdoor unit mounted on the building’s roof and an indoor unit that serves as the customer’s user interface and connects to the outdoor receiver via a 2.5 Gbps Power over Ethernet connection.
