In this highly digitized broadband world, the demand for network capacity is always rising. Wireless internet service providers and mobile operators are all finding their customers demanding more bandwidth. Even utilities and local governments use more network bandwidth as they deploy surveillance cameras and other high-demand applications. Long-haul microwave links play a key role in delivering network capacity, and 6 GHz and 11 GHz frequencies are popular choices.
Is traditional microwave dead? With the advent of Multi-Band, it could be. Why accept an old solution when you can have so much more by combining E-Band and traditional microwave into a single-box unit. Governments are taking action across the world to connect homes and businesses in rural areas to the rest of the world. From the 7-year action plan devised by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) to the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) $9.2 billion newly implemented Rural Digital Opportunity Fund, there is a worldwide focus on the connectedness of rural areas. As capacity demands increase rapidly for rural broadband networks, a better solution than traditional microwave is needed.
Africell Sierra Leone is a mobile network operator in West Africa with over 4 million subscribers who had just launched 4G in 2018 on their radio access network. This launch caused capacity constraints on the transport layer of their network.