LTE and 5G New Radio are opening up significant commercial opportunities for operators to use fixed wireless access (FWA) to bring the internet to many of the more than one billion households around the world that are still unconnected, as well as to many small and medium-sized businesses. We believe that the most promising approach is shared investment with mobile broadband (MBB), using the same ecosystem, assets and spectrum bands. The latest Ericsson Technology Review article highlights the key principles for combined MBB and FWA deployments, and presents a use case that illustrates the recommended deployment approach. The actions we recommend are designed to benefit both MBB and FWA services simultaneously.

1. ERICSSON
TECHNOLOGY
FIXEDWIRELESS
ACCESSINLTEAND5G
C H A R T I N G T H E F U T U R E O F I N N O V A T I O N | # 7 ∙ 2 0 1 8
5% be
5% worst households
Average
households
3.0GHz
1.0GHz
0
0
50
50
100
100
150
150
200
200
250
300
Experienced user
data rate (Mbps)
Cap
For example,
average
Sold data rate 225Mbps
to average households
Minimum data rate
Rmin
= 10Mbps
LTE 20MHz
Add (step 1)
FDD
LTE 20MHz FDD
LTE 10MHz
GSM
WCDMA
FDD

2. ✱ FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G
2 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ AUGUST 30, 2018
HÅKAN OLOFSSON,
ANDERS ERICSSON,
FREDRIC KRONESTEDT,
SVEN HELLSTEN
Unlike the country-wide decisions typically
made for mobile broadband (MBB), decisions
about fixed broadband and targeted fixed
wireless access (FWA) deployments tend to
bemadeatthelocalmarketlevel,andoperators
have a critical role to play. A number of
different drivers govern local market
attractiveness, as outlined in Ericsson’s
recently published FWA handbook [1].
■ WehaveorganizedtheFWAmarket
opportunitiesintothreedistinctsegmentsthatwe
call‘WirelessFiber’,‘BuildwithPrecision’,and
‘ConnecttheUnconnected’.Eachofthesehas
differentcharacteristicsmainlybasedonthe
offering,theavailabilityoffixedaccessandthe
correspondingaveragerevenueperuser(ARPU)
thatcanbeexpectedfromcustomers[1].The
WirelessFibersegmentconsistsofthosecasesin
whichthereisaneedforveryhigh-rateofferingsand
capacityasadirectalternativetohigh-endfixed
broadband.Theambitionistoprovidefiber-like
speedsandhandlehouseholds’TVneeds,matched
withacorrespondinglyhighabilitytopay.Typical
solddateratesare100to1,000+Mbpsandmonthly
ARPUlevelsofUSD50-100.TheFWAsweetspot
forthissegmentistypicallysuburbanenvironments.
TheBuildwithPrecisionsegmentiscomprisedof
thosecaseswherethereiscompetitionfrom
performance-limitedfixedbroadbandalternatives,
Globally, there is a huge underserved market for broadband connections, with
more than one billion households still unconnected. The growth in high-speed
mobile broadband coverage enabled by LTE and 5G New Radio is opening
up much more commercially attractive opportunities for operators to use
fixed wireless access to deliver broadband services to homes and small and
medium-sized enterprises.
LEVERAGING LTE AND 5G NR NETWORKS FOR
wireless
access
Fixed

3. FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G ✱
AUGUST 30, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 3
Terms and abbreviations
ADSL – Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line | ARPU – Average Revenue per User | CAT – Category (in LTE) |
CPE – Customer Premises Equipment | dav – Average Busy-hour Data Consumption | DL – Downlink | DSL
– Digital Subscriber Line | FDD – Frequency Division Duplex | FWA – Fixed Wireless Access | MBB – Mobile
Broadband | MIMO – Multiple-input, Multiple-output | mmWave – Millimeter Wave | NR – New Radio |
Rmin – Minimum Data Rate | TDD – Time Division Duplex | Tx/Rx – Radio Transmitter/Radio Receiver |
WCDMA – Wideband Code Division Multiple Access | xDSL – DSL family (e.g. ADSL)
suchasxDSL.Here,theneedisforhighdatarate
andcapacity,withacorrespondinglevelofARPU.
Typicalsolddataratesare50to200Mbpsand
monthlyARPUlevelsarearoundUSD20-60.The
FWAsweetspotforthissegmentisinsuburbanor
ruralvillagesortownsthatarecurrently
underserved.Somemoresparselypopulatedareas
arealsoaddressable.
TheConnecttheUnconnectedsegmentismade
upofcasesinwhichfixedbroadbandcompetitionis
virtuallynon-existent,andsmartphonesthatuse
MBBarethedominantwayofaccessingtheinternet.
Userexpectationsofaccessspeedarerelativelylow.
Typicalsolddataratesare10to100Mbpsand
monthlyARPUlevelsarearoundUSD10-20.Even
thoughARPUlevelsarelimitedinthissegment,it
hasaFWAsweetspotthatstretchesfromurban
environmentstoruralvillages,duetolimited
investmentneeds.
Subscriptions,dataratesandconsumption
TheparadigmsforfixedbroadbandandMBBare
different,bothintermsofsubscriptionofferingsand
dimensioning.Fixedbroadbandsubscriptionstend
tofocusonmaximumdataratesthatareachieved
undernormalcircumstances–thatis,atlowto
mediumload.Theusertrafficisoftenshapedsothat
itdoesnotexceedthesolddatarate.Hence,forfixed
broadband,thesolddatarateisthenormalvalue
thathouseholdsubscribersrelateto.
Bycontrast,forMBB,peakratesaresometimes
usedformarketing,andnormallythenetwork
transmitsthemaximumratethatthemobiledevice
canhandle.Monthlydatabucketsdominatethe
subscriptionparadigm,andadditionalmonetization
isachievedthroughupgradestolargerdatabuckets,
allthewaytounlimiteddata.Hence,forMBB,
monthlydatabucketsarethenormalsubscription
valuethatmobilesubscribersrelateto.

4. ✱ FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G
4 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ AUGUST 30, 2018
Itisimportantthatbothconsumersandoperators
(fixedandmobile)understandthiscrucialdifference.
OurviewisthatFWAwillinheritthesubscription
paradigmsoffixedbroadbandratherthanthoseof
MBB.Thatis,householdsshouldpayforFWAon
thebasisofdatarateandnotbeconcernedabout
dataconsumption.
Last-hopdimensioning
InFWAthelasthopiswireless,soallthe
characteristicsofawirelessnetworkapplytothe
dimensioning.Unlikefiber,butsimilartodigital
subscriberlinelooplength,therewillbevarying
connectionqualitytodifferenthouseholds.And,
unlikefixedbroadbandoverall,thelasthopisradio
andthereforeshared,whichmeansthatspeedswill
degradewithincreasingnetworkload.Allthese
characteristicsmustbetakenintoaccountwhen
dimensioninganFWAnetwork.Further,since
EricssonpromotesthesharingofassetswithMBB
(whenavailable),werecommendthatFWAis
broughtintogeneralRANdimensioning.
Notethatforfixedbroadband,FWAandMBB
alike,thereistransportaggregationabovethelast
hop,whichisdimensionedaccordingtostandard
principlesandcanalsocontributetoavaryinguser
experience.
Inshort,whileFWAwillinheritthesubscription
paradigmoffixedbroadband,duetotheradio
propertiesofthelasthoptohouseholds,itmustuse
modifieddimensioningmethodsandtermsfromthe
MBBparadigm.
Figure1illustratesatypicalFWAanalysisflow.It
startswithinputonthesubscriptionandoffering,
includingdimensioningcriteria,whichtriggersa
selected,maximallyefficientnetworkdesignthat
dependsontheofferingambitionsandnetwork
startingpoint.Abusinesscasecanbecalculatedby
balancingtheresultingcostitemsofthedeployment
withtheextrarevenuesforeseen.
Figure 1: FWA deployment analysis flow
Make use of RAN
‘utilize, add, densify’
deployment toolbox
Refine if needed
Desired
ARPU
Desired addressed
households/site (or km2)
Desired sold data rate
X Mbps
Minimum data rate
Rmin
, dav
(design criteria)
Network cost
Network design
1. Low/medium load analysis =>
Sold data rate
2. Max. load analysis =>
Max. system load =>
Max. number of households
Calculate business case

5. FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G ✱
AUGUST 30, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 5
FWAtoolbox
Anexistingmobileradionetwork,normally
designedforvoiceandMBB,isanexcellentbasefor
offeringanFWAservice.Dependingontheradio
networkstartingpointandtheoperator’sambitions
forFWA,thereisatoolboxavailabletomakethe
networkcapableofhandlingacombinationofvoice,
MBBandFWA.
Thesetoolsfallintothreemaincategories:utilize,
addanddensify.Theparticularneedsofeachlocal
situationcanbemetbydeployingawell-planned
mixofthesetools.
Utilizeexistingradionetworkassets
Theabilitytoutilizeexistingradionetworkassetsis
afundamentaladvantagethatsetsmobileoperators
apartfromstart-upsorgreenfieldcompetitorsinthe
FWAmarket.However,theadvantageisonlyfully
realizedifallrelevantRANassetsareefficiently
combinedforvoice,MBBandFWA.Iftheoperator
choosesnottoutilizeexistingassetsbuiltforvoice
andMBB,thenumberofeconomicallyviablelocal
areasforFWAwillbesmaller,andtheoperatorrisks
facingunnecessarycompetitionwithstandalone
FWAproviders.
Theradionetworkassetsthatshouldbeutilized
includeexistingradiosites,sparecapacityin
deployedspectrum(includingassociated
equipment),andacquiredbutundeployedspectrum.
Existingradiositesarecriticalassets,whetherthey
areoperator-ownedorrented.The‘tool’ofutilizing
existingsitesisnotusedbyitself,butincombination
withotheractionstomakethosemorecost-efficient.
Sparecapacityindeployedspectrumandassociated
deployedradio,basebandandtransportnetwork
equipmentisquitecommoninFWAtargetareas,
andmakinguseofitrequiresnonewcapital
expenditure.Acquiredbutundeployedspectrumis
alsocommoninFWAtargetareas,whichmakes
radiodeploymentinnewbandspossiblewithoutthe
costofacquiringnewspectrum.Thegeographicalfit
forFWAisexcellent,sinceFWAtargetedareasare
oftensuburbanandrural,whereunusedspectrumis
mostprevalent.
Addradionetworkcapabilities
InanMBBRAN,radiocapabilitiesarecontinuously
addedtohandlemoretraffic,morecustomersand
betterappcoverage.TohandleFWAasanextra
service,someoftheseadditionsmayhavetobemade
soonertoachieveacombinednetworkwith
sufficientcapabilities.
Anexistingmobileoperatorhasthesignificant
advantageofbeingabletoaddthefollowingradio
networkcapabilitiesandco-financethemforMBB
andFWA:
• Spectrum–upcomingwidespectrumbandsin
3-6GHzandmillimeterwave(mmWave)openup
potentialforprovidinghighdataratesand
capacity,benefitingbothMBBandFWA
• Higher-ordermodulation,multiple-input,
multiple-output(MIMO)andbeamforming–
offeringthepotentialtosqueezeoutthemostfrom
eachspectrumband
• FWA-tailoredsoftwarefeatures–toenhance
performanceforFWAusersandtoprovide
adequatequalitytoMBBandFWAinshared
deployments
• Additionalsectorsonexistingsites
• 5GNewRadio(NR)access–designedforlow
latencyandforwidespectrumbands,creatingan
excellentoverallnetworktogetherwithLTE.
Densifytheradionetworkgrid
Whenthe‘utilize’and‘add’toolshavebeenusedto
theirfullpotential,densificationcanofferfurther
gains.Inthesecases,MBBenhancementstendtobe
necessaryaswell,sotheupgradeneedsofMBBand
FWAshouldbeconsideredtogetherandthe
densificationofthenetworkshouldbeco-financed.
Thetwooptionsfordensifyingtheradionetwork
gridaremacrositedensificationandsmallcellsite
THEABILITYTOUTILIZE
EXISTINGRADIONETWORK
ASSETSISAFUNDAMENTAL
ADVANTAGE

6. ✱ FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G
6 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ AUGUST 30, 2018
densificationonpoles.Macrositedensificationisan
opportunisticapproach:wherenewmacrositescan
befound,suchopportunitiescanbetaken.Smallcell
sitedensificationonpolesmaybenecessaryifthe
macrogridissparseandperformancerequirements
arehigh.
SpectrumsharingacrossMBBandFWA
SharingspectrumacrossFWAandMBBenables
significantgainsinoverallspectralefficiency
becausehigherutilizationispossiblewithone
‘biggerpipe’.Thisisexplainedbythetrunkinggain
effect,whichhasbeenknownandusedinmobile
systemssincetheirinfancy,allthewayfromvoice
channelcapacitytoLTEcarrieraggregationfor
MBB.ItisalsoapplicabletoFWA.
Thelogicalconsequenceofthisisthatspectrum
assetsshouldbesharedasonepool,employing
carrieraggregationforLTEanddualconnectivity
forLTE/NRtoensurethatallresourcesareutilized
tothemaximum,whilesecuringgooduser
experienceforbothMBBandFWA.Qualityacross
bothservicesisensuredthroughexistingsoftware
featuressuchasRANslicing.
Bycontrast,anyartificialsplitofspectrum
resourcesfordifferentserviceswouldresultin
under-utilizationofthespectrumassets.
PerformancedifferencesofFWACPEtypes
UsingFWAtodeliverbroadbandservicesrequires
newFWAcustomerpremisesequipment(CPE),
fromsimpleindoornomadicdevicestofixed
outdoor-installedunits,provisionedthrough
standarddeviceretailornewmethods.ACPE
managementsystemislikelytobeneededtomanage
CPEinthefixedbroadbandsense–enablingthe
operatortologintothedevices,configurethemand
checkstatusremotely.Convergedoperatorshavethe
choiceofreusingthefixedaccessCPEmanagement
systemordeployingaseparateoneforFWA.Both
CPEandCPEmanagementsystemsareseparate
networkentitiesthatgenerallyhavelimited
integrationwithcellularnetworks,meaningthatthe
operatorcanacquirebest-of-breedproductsand
expectthemtoworkusingstandardprotocols.The
biggestdifferencebetweentheCPEalternativesis
theabilitytoachievepromisedservicelevels,
especiallyduringbusyhours.
AnoutdoorCPEprovidesthebestperformance,
asithasabuilt-indirectionalantenna(3.5GHz,
10-14dBi)andisinstalledwithapredictableradio
linkqualitytotheselectedbasestation.Thetypical
antennaconfigurationhastwoRxantennas,but
deviceswithfourRxantennasarealsoavailable.The
normaltransmissionmodeisrank-2MIMO,asthe
modemisexpectedtobeinstalledwithgoodline-of-
sight.MostoutdoorLTEdevicessupportCAT6and
20+20MHzcarrieraggregationbutmoreadvanced
devicesuptoCAT16supportarealsoavailable.
Inter-bandcarrieraggregationbetweenFDDand
TDDisespeciallyuseful,asservicescanbestarted
onexistingFDDbandsandlaterexpandedasFWA
subscribersandtrafficincrease.
AcorrectlyinstalledoutdoorCPEisdirectedto
thebest-servingcell,leadingtoalowerpathlossand
increasingthevalueofmid-bandandmmWaveTDD
spectrum.Thelargegaininsignalqualityisaresult
ofthe10dBdifferenceinantennagainandthe
avoidanceof10-15dBinwall/windowattenuation
lossessufferedbyindoordevices.Anothercontributor
tosignalattenuationforindoordevicesisthedeep
indoorloss,asthedeviceislikelytobeplacedina
hiddenlocationortoprovideoptimumWi-Ficoverage.
Thiscouldcontributeanother5dBinpathloss.
WhereasanindoorCPEiscomparabletoa
smartphoneintermsofspectrumefficiency,an
outdoorCPEistwotothreetimesmoreefficient.To
putitanotherway,forthesamedataconsumption,
aroundtwotothreetimesasmanyhouseholdscan
beservedusingoutdoorratherthanindoorunits–or
twotothreetimesasmuchspectrumwouldbe
QUALITYACROSSBOTH
SERVICESISENSURED
THROUGHEXISTING
SOFTWAREFEATURES

7. FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G ✱
AUGUST 30, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 7
neededtoserveindoor-onlyFWAhouseholds.A
finaladvantageofoutdoorCPEisthattherelative
performancedifferencebetweenthebest,median
andworstfive-percentileusersissignificantlylower.
Intermsofperformance,indoorCPEunits
normallystartwithCAT6capabilitiesofupto
300Mbps.Moreadvanceddevicescouldsupport
CAT16upto1Gbpsandofferrank-4MIMO.More
advancedCPEarchitecturesarealsobeing
discussed,suchasasplitdesign,whereanoutdoor
windowantennaisconnectedtoanindoorunitvia
inductionthroughthewindowglass.
Casestudy:thecountrytown
Thecountrytownexamplerepresentsamarket
withinourBuildwithPrecisionsegment,
characterizedbyrelativelymatureLTEMBBand
decentfixedbroadbandofferings,complementedby
terrestrialorsatellitebroadcastservicestomeet
households’linearTVneeds.Thetypicalmonthly
ARPUforMBBisaroundUSD20,andthe
predictedwillingnesstopayisUSD40fora
dedicatedhouseholdFWAinternetservicewitha
soldrateof50-200Mbpsandunlimiteddata.
Theoperatorusesthefollowingasthebasisfor
dimensioningthesystem:
• Thenetworkshouldbedesignedtobeableto
connectatleast30percentofhouseholds.In
contrasttotheextensiveupfrontinvestments
requiredinafiberdeployment,theabilityto
designandinvestforalimitedmarketsharefrom
thebeginningandexpandlaterasthesubscriber
basegrowsisausefulpropertyofFWA.
• ThereisnoambitiontoofferIPTVoverFWA,as
householdTVneedsareassumedtobeservedby
satelliteorterrestrialaccess.
• Thedominantusecaseismeetingallthe
households’internetneeds.
• Forvideostreamingsupport,householdsshould,
whenneeded,experienceatleastaminimumdata
rate(Rmin)of10Mbpsevenduringbusyhours.
ThiscorrespondstoonehighdefinitionTVvideo
stream,withsomemargin,oracombinationof
multiplestandarddefinitionTVstreams.
• Basedontheoperator’sexperiencefromsimilar
FWAareas,theaveragehousehold’sconsumption
duringbusyhoursis0.9GB/h,correspondingtoan
averagedataflowof2Mbpsduringbusyhours.
Withtheassumptionthat10percentofdatais
beingconsumedduringbusyhours,thiswould
correspondto270GBpermonth.
Networkstartingpoint
Coverageisprovidedbyamacronetworkwith
three-sectorsitesandaninter-sitedistanceofabout
1km.TheoperatorhasaccesstosixFDDbands:
threebandsbelow1GHz(typically700,800and
900MHz),andthreebandsinthe1-3GHzrange
(typically1,800,2,100and2,600MHz).TheMBB
trafficinthisareaishandledusingasubsetofthe
availablebands.Themajorityofsmartphonesare
LTE-capable,andthereisalsoGSMandWCDMA
coveragetohandlesimplerphones.Atypicalmacro
sitehastwoLTEcarriers(800and1,800MHz)as
wellasaWCDMAcarrierinthe2,100MHzband,
andafewGSMcarriersinthe900MHzband.
High-levelanalysis[2]hasshownthatthe
deployedLTEcapacityinwesternandcentral
Europeislessthan40percentutilized,giventhe
LTEsmartphonesubscriberdensityinthearea.This
meansthatthereisspareradiocapacitythatcanbe
utilizedbyFWA.
Overallsolution
Werecommendutilizingtheexistingsites,radios
andbasebanddeployedtoprovideMBB,and
sharingtheseresourcesacrossFWAandMBB
users.Currentdeploymentshavesparecapacity
bothinLTEcarriersandinbasebandunits.
Inaddition,werecommendutilizingtheacquired
THEABILITYTODESIGN
ANDINVESTFORALIMITED
MARKETSHARE...ISAUSEFUL
PROPERTYOFFWA

8. ✱ FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G
8 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ AUGUST 30, 2018
butundeployedbandbelow3GHz(suchas
2,600MHz),withanew2Tx/Rxradio,togetherwith
theexistingLTEbandsbymeansofcarrier
aggregationforbothFWAandMBB.Carrier
aggregationimprovespeakspeedsaswellas
coverageforbothservices.TheleftsideofFigure2
showsthespectrumuseoftheFWAdeploymentat
thisfirststepdeployment.ARANslicingfeaturecan
beappliedtoensurethatthereisnonegativeimpact
onMBBservices(andviceversa)duringpeak
loadingasaresultofFWAandLTEuserssharing
thesamecarriers.
Thereisnoneedtodensifythenetworkinthis
case.WithregardtoCPEchoices,wesuggestusing
high-end4Rxoutdoor(roof-topmounted)CPE,as
FWAspeedsneedtobehighinthiscasetocompete
withxDSLservicesinthearea.IndoorCPEmaybe
deployedasacomplementforhouseholdswhere
theirperformanceisacceptable.
Performanceanalysis
AlthoughMBBandFWAservicessharespectrum
inthecountrytowncase,tosimplifythepresentation
oftheperformanceanalysis,ourevaluationonly
showsFWA.Further,wehavechosentofocusonthe
downlink(DL)becausetheFWAtraffic(and
broadbandtrafficingeneral)isDL-heavyandso
capacityisDL-limited.
TheperformanceisillustratedinFigure2.The
experiencedDLdatarateforaspecifichousehold
dependsonitslocation,aswithxDSLservices,and
maybeupto270Mbpsinthisscenario.Anaverage
householdwouldexperiencearound225Mbpsat
lowsystemload.Thiscouldbeusedasthesolddata
ratetoatypicalcustomer.
Notehoweverthat,unlikeMBB,whereusers
movearoundandexperiencebothgoodandbad
radioenvironments,inthisscenariotheCPEisfixed
andvariationintheradioenvironmentissmaller,
Figure 2: Performance and spectrum use of FWA deployment step 1
5% best households
5% worst households
Average
households
Served traffic load
(Mbps/site)
3.0GHz
1.0GHz
0
0
50
50
100
100
150
150
200
200
250
250
300
300
350 400
Experienced user
data rate (Mbps)
Capacity, C = 300Mbps per site
For example, 30% of 430 households per site with
average busy hour consumption of 1GB/h
Sold data rate 225Mbps
to average households
Minimum data rate
Rmin
= 10Mbps
LTE 20MHz
Add (step 1)
FDD
LTE 20MHz FDD
LTE 10MHz
GSM
WCDMA
FDD

9. FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G ✱
AUGUST 30, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 9
meaningthathouseholdswithworseradio
environmentswilllikelyalwayshaveworsethan
averagedatarates.Inthisscenario,thefivepercent
worst-performinghouseholdsexperiencecloseto
175Mbpsatbest.Therefore,itmaybeworth
consideringhavingdifferentsubscriptioncategories;
itmaynotbepossibleforallhouseholdstosubscribe
tothehigherservicelevel.
Todimensionthesystem,theRminissetto
10Mbps.Thismeansthatthefivepercentworst-
performinghouseholdsshouldexperienceatleast
10MbpsDLdatarateduringbusyhours.Thisresults
inacapacityof300Mbps,or135GB/h,persite.As
longasthetotaltrafficinallthreesectorsdoesnot
exceed300Mbps,theRminrequirementwillbe
fulfilled.
Assumingthereare500householdspersquare
kilometer,andaninter-sitedistanceof1,000m,an
FWAmarketshareof30percentcorrespondsto
some130householdspersite.At135GB/hcapacity,
thismarketcanbeservedwithanaveragebusyhour
consumptionofslightlyabove1GB/h–thatis,above
thedimensioningtargetof0.9GB/h(2Mbps).In
addition,MBBwillbenefitfromtheadditional20MHz
spectrum,forexampleintermsofincreasedpeakrates.
Solutionevolution
Itisimportantthatthesolutionisfuture-proofand
canevolvetohandlemoreconnectedhouseholds
andhigherdemandperhouseholdovertime.To
providehighercapacityandcopewithgreater
demands,operatorscanacquireandaddanewTDD
bandabove3GHz(suchas3.5GHz)using8Tx/Rx
advancedantennasystemradios.Themulti-user
MIMOfeaturecanbeactivatedtoprovide
additionalcapacity.Figure3illustrateshow
additionalcapacitycanbeprovidedinseveral
evolutionsteps.
Figure 3: FWA deployment solution evolution to steps 2-4: spectrum use and performance
Proportion of households served
(430 households per site)
Average busy hour consumption (GB/h)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
2.52.252.01.751.51.251.00.750.50.25
3.0GHz
1.0GHz
LTE 20MHz
Add (step 1)
Step 4
Step 3
Step 2
Step 1
Dimensioning target•(0.9GB/h at 30%)
FDD
LTE/NR 20MHz
Add (step 2)
TDD
LTE/NR 20MHz
Add (step 3)
TDD
LTE/NR 20MHz
Add (step 4)
TDD
LTE 20MHz FDD
LTE 10MHz
GSM
WCDMA

10. ✱ FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G
10 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ AUGUST 30, 2018
Initially,thesystemisdimensionedtoserve30
percentofhouseholdswithanaveragebusyhour
consumptionof1GB/h.Theareaofthegraphin
Figure3markedasStep1indicatesthepossible
combinationsofpercentagesofhouseholdsand
averagebusyhourconsumptionforthissolution.
TheareaofthegraphthatismarkedasStep2
indicatesthecapacityprovidedbyanadditional
20MHz.Thisshowsthatthesystemcanservea
customerbaseof30percentwithanaveragebusy-
hourconsumptionof1.9GB/h.Alternatively,the
highercapacitycanbeusedtoserveanincreased
marketshare(upto58percent)withanunchanged
averagebusyhourconsumption.
Increasingthebandwidthwithanother20MHzof
TDDspectrumprovidesasystemcapacity
representedbytheareamarkedStep3inthegraph.
Thiswillserve30percentofhouseholdsinthearea
withanaveragebusy-hourconsumptionof3GB/h.
Again,thehighercapacitycouldinsteadbeusedto
serveanincreasedmarketsharewithanunchanged
averagebusy-hourconsumption,oracombinationof
increasedmarketshareandincreasedaverage
consumption.
Finally,Step4,thedarkestgreyareaofthegraph
inFigure3,indicateswhatcanbeachievedwhena
totalof60MHzofTDDspectrumisaddedbeyond
Further reading
〉〉 Ericsson Technology Review, Fixed wireless access on a massive scale with 5G, 2017, Furuskär A;
Laraqui, K; Nazari, A; Skubic, B; Tombaz, S; Trojer, E, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/assets/local/
publications/ericsson-technology-review/docs/2017/2017-01-volume-94-etr-magazine.pdf
〉〉 Ericsson ConsumerLab, Connected homes, June 2015, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/assets/
local/news/2015/6/ericsson-consumerlab-connected-homes.pdf
References
1. Ericsson,FixedWirelessAccessHandbook(extractedversion),availableat:https://www.ericsson.com/assets/
local/narratives/networks/documents/fwa-handbook.pdf
2. Ericsson Mobility Report, November 2017, available at: https://www.ericsson.com/assets/local/mobility-report/
documents/2017/ericsson-mobility-report-november-2017.pdf
Step1.Assuminga30percentmarketshare,an
averagebusy-hourconsumptionofupto4.1GB/h
canbemet(outsidegraphrange).
Insummary,byusingtheFWAtoolboxandlimited
initialinvestments,andthenaddingTDDspectrum
asneeded,thechosendeploymentisabletosupport
highdataratesandconsumptionimmediatelyat
launch.Then,throughaseriesofsmoothsolution
evolutionsteps,capacitycangrowtomorethanfour
timestheinitialoffering.
Conclusion
Thelargenumberofunderservedhouseholdsaround
theworldrepresentsaprofitableFWAgrowth
opportunityforcurrent3GPPoperators.Mobile-only
operatorscanexploreanewbusinessopportunity
withFWA,andconvergedoperatorscanaddFWA
asacomplementtotheirfixedbroadbandstrategy
forcertainlocationsasamorecost-efficientsolution
withfastertimetomarket.Segmentedsolutionsare
needed,withsubscriptionsanddimensioningbased
onfixedandmobileparadigms.Webelievethatthe
bestwaytodeliverfuture-proofbroadbandsolutions
isbasedontheevolutionofLTEand5GNR,and
thatthemostpromisingapproachisshared
investmentusingthesameecosystem,assetsand
spectrumbandsforbothMBBandFWA.

11. FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G ✱
AUGUST 30, 2018 ✱ ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW 11
Håkan Olofsson
◆ has worked in the mobile
industry for 25 years, with a
particular focus on its RAN
aspects. He joined Ericsson
in 1994 and has served
in a variety of capacities,
mostly dealing with strategic
technology development
and the evolution from 2G all
the way to 5G. He is currently
head of the System Concept
program at Development
Unit Networks. Olofsson
holds an M.Sc. in physics
engineering from Uppsala
University, Sweden.
Anders Ericsson
◆ joined Ericsson in 1999
and is currently working
as a system designer
in Development Unit
Networks. During his time
at Ericsson, he has worked
at Ericsson Research and
in system management,
as well as heading up the
Algorithm and Simulations
department at Ericsson
Mobile Platforms/ST-
Ericsson. He previously
worked at the Swedish
National Defense Research
Establishment (FOI).
Ericsson holds a Licentiate
Eng. in automatic control and
an M.Sc. in applied physics
and electrical engineering
from Linköping University,
Sweden.
Fredric Kronestedt
◆ joined Ericsson in 1993 to
work on RAN research. Since
then, he has taken on many
different roles, including
system design and system
management. He is currently
working at Development
Unit Networks, where he is
focusing on radio network
deployment and evolution
aspects for 4G and 5G.
Kronestedt holds an M.Sc.
in electrical engineering
from KTH Royal Institute
of Technology, Stockholm,
Sweden.
Sven Hellsten
◆ joined Ericsson in 1993
and over the years he
has worked with radio
technologies ranging from
analogue AMPS, GSM,
WCDMA, to LTE and 5G/
NR. His main focus has been
on product management
of base stations, but he has
also worked with signal
processing design and
systems management.
Hellsten holds an M.Sc. in
physics engineering from
Uppsala University.
theauthors
Theauthorswould
liketothankthe
followingpeoplefor
theircontribution
tothisarticle:
TomasDahlberg,
HaniElmalky,Bo
Göransson,Henrik
Johansson,George
Jöngren,Michael
Kühner,PerLindberg,
StaffanLindholm,
ReinerLudwig,
ClaesMartinsson,
BjörnMöller,Richard
Möller,PerArne
Nilsson,Christoph
Schrimpl-Rother,
SibelTombaz,Henrik
Voigt,DavidWaite
andJohnYazlle.

12. ✱ FIXED WIRELESS ACCESS IN LTE AND 5G
12 ERICSSON TECHNOLOGY REVIEW ✱ AUGUST 30, 2018
ISSN 0014-0171
284 23-3317 | Uen
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