FEATURE : DIGITALIZATION

Mike Allison , Nokia ’ s Head of Government and Cities for North

America , offers insider advice for local governments looking to connect underserved communities . government census blocks . Surprisingly illuminating , it may show that 80 % of the unserved or underserved households actually lie in just half of the school districts . Prioritizing those districts allows the greatest impact in the most cost-effective manner and helps target available funding sources .

Using that data , consider how many of those target households are potentially covered by existing assets that have available capacity . Tower infrastructure , backhaul assets and data centers represent a huge piece of sunk investment you should reuse and plan to leverage similar assets owned by public safety agencies .

In fact , remote learning in America has caused a dangerous digital homework divide .

Close to 17 million students have had their learning paths disrupted , according to the Federal Communications Commission ( FCC ). Consequently , broadband service deployment to unserved and underserved areas is accelerating and a key enabling technology is fixed wireless broadband .

It ’ s versatile , sustainable and cost-effective . Using base stations to transfer signals over 4G LTE and 5G mobile networks , the technology is well-suited for underserved , often rural areas , since it offers relatively easy buildout , low latency , cost efficiency and is not subject to disruption by poor weather conditions .

Let ’ s take a look at the four steps local governments should follow when extending broadband to the most underserved areas of their community .

Step one : Where do I start ?

First you need to know the level of connectivity and areas of greatest need in your community . Start with the school district data published in federal

You can now calculate the most efficient CAPEX per household . Based on estimated cell service radius for each site , existing county sites alone may cover , for example , 20 % of the target households , with the top five sites covering 16 %. Next , strategically add leased sites to cover additional households . And lastly , build strategically selected new sites to fill in any remaining gaps , beginning with sites with the largest potential household coverage .

Step two : What exactly will I offer ?

When assessing the likely investment for your project , you have a choice between Internet availability or Internet speed and quality .

For a quick win at the lowest cost , focus on availability . This gives a broadband connectivity option of 25 to 50 Mbps downlink to 75 % of target households . You light up existing strategically sited cells and build only enough network to carry what has been lit up . This is faster and offers flexible coverage though you will need to time grants with capacity growth .

A focus on speed and quality has a higher initial capital outlay , but in this option , you light up strategically sited cells , both new and existing and build enough network connectivity to satisfy current targets and future needs .

To get started , evaluate your existing and new sites by Radio Access Network ( RAN ) CAPEX / OPEX per site type as well as current residential broadband availability by provider and technology to benchmark current broadband service take-rates and household income .

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