| Wireless Tower Backhaul: $8-25,000 |
| Thursday, 09 July 2009 16:23 |
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New cells sites for the LTE/WiMAX generation usually are provisioned with 40 to 100 megabits to begin with, brutally expensive with T-1's. Microwave wireless backhaul is usually far cheaper than fiber, unless you can't get line of sight or are the incumbent telco with facilities in place. Even for incumbents, running new fiber can be very expensive. Verizon Wireless runs fiber to every LTE base station site that it can in the urban markets but often chooses microwave radios in the rural and suburban markets. Wireless radios to backhaul 8 megabits from an Indian cellsite can cost as little as $2,000 a link. For developed world requirements. Earl Lum of EJL Wireless Research tells me $8,000 to $25,000 is the right budget, depending on capacity and distance. The lower priced units will often be fine. That will provide radios for backhauling up to 155 megabits (OC-3) with minimal ongoning costs. A full gigabit Ethernet microwave radio link currently costs about $35,000 in small quantities because demand is limited and that requires using higher frequencies in the E-Band spectrum. He predicts that will be down under $10,000 a link in You nearly always can provide line of sight for less than the cost of running new fiber. AWest Virginia WISP has territory that isn't easy, but tells me "If we work hard, we have always been able to find the right spot for a tower." He's running one of the most sucessful WISPs supported by RUS funding. Billy Ladin has connected thousands of homes in small towns in Southern Texas, all with wireless backhaul from the towers. A common strategy for wireless networks is to use one high tower as a relay for half a dozen lower ones. If you have the right terrain, that can be very effective.It's a good thing fiber backhaul is usually not needed. Verizon estimates it costs about $8,000/mile for fiber. Smaller companies have costs that can run up to $20,000, even when they have the poles in place. Fiber isn't affected by rain, so is more reliable, but the cost difference is often prohibitive. |
Wireless towers and backhaul for unserved areas is by far the best way to bring megabits and should be the #1 or #2 priority for any stimulus spending. For voice, a 1.5 megabit T-1 could carry dozens of calls for a few hundred to a few thousand dollars/month. Renting a T-1 from the telco involved much less upfront cost than adding your own backhaul. But data requires megabits to several customers at once, and needs far more bandwidth.
a few years.
