Consumers are preparing for the new opportunities offered by the rollout of fifth-generation (5G) technology and the broader Internet of Things it enables. The backbone of these new communications tools is fiber connectivity. Fiber that is deployed both aerially and underground is essential to 5G. Challenges to fiber deployments exist in several areas. Access to the right-of-way (ROW) is often an obstacle in terms of time and of cost. Municipalities face their own hurdles, including having robust permitting procedures and adequate staff in place, which can delay deployments. However, municipalities can adopt practices that promote transparency, foster trust among stakeholders, and allow efficiencies that save time, money, and promote connectivity. This report will study the role of fiber in next-generation connectivity, and address actions that could help bring connectivity to Americans to maximize the advantages that come from a 5G rollout.

Recent COVID-19 events have highlighted the disparities in the digital divide as students have been learning remotely and employees have worked from home. Congress has tried to address the need for broadband in rural areas with varying degrees of success. However, President Trump signed into law the Broadband DATA Act in March 2020, which aims to improve how the Federal Communications Commission collects, verifies and reports broadband data. The following is a roundup of actions taken at the federal and state levels as well as what some states are doing on their own.  

Even as Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum will help U.S. cellular carriers better manage traffic on their networks, it also will enable many new entrants as neutral-host providers, cable and internet providers, and enterprises themselves seek to manage their own wireless devices and traffic. This report explores the CBRS spectrum opportunity as well as the impact on existing and new networks.

This report explores the need for additional bandwidth and offloading techniques at the dawn of the fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications era. Even though 5G brings new spectrum to market, the sheer number of devices and connections that will proliferate from this game-changing technology will require continued offloading techniques from the macrocellular networks to bring the network closer to the end user, thereby making the macrocellular network operate efficiently. The paradox of 5G is that although it provides more bandwidth, it will also support so much more data usage that even more offload is required. Along with unlicensed Wi-Fi technology that uses the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz frequencies, newly available Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum will be required to handle the expected heavy demands from people and machines.

The wireless ecosystem is planning to deploy fifth-generation (5G) technology in part to try to keep up with demand for more data but also to create new revenue opportunities. This report will explore available technologies, technical and regulatory solutions, and infrastructure options that mobile operators can use to continue to keep up and sufficiently stay ahead of the forecasted traffic demands on their respective networks as they ready their networks for coming 5G services and requirements.

Today’s wireless infrastructure — while robust — will require massive upgrades. Technical advances in speeds, location awareness, coverage, capacity, range, and a multitude of other areas will be needed to support the estimated 25 billion connected devices that could be in use by 2020, according to Gartner. Aligning policy and capability is essential to enabling the successful implementation of these technologies. This requires governments to break down departmental silos, build partnerships and look to best-practices models that are proven to be successful. This report will explore the infrastructure needs of building smart communities.

The ANSI/TIA-222 Standard and the IBC have traditionally adopted the methodology of the ASCE 7 Standard for determining the minimum loading requirements for new and existing structures. The ASCE 7 Standard has evolved since the publication of the ANSI/TIA 222-G Standard (Rev G). The release of Revision H of the ANSI/TIA-222 Standard (Rev H) in January 2018 and the publication of the 2018 International Building Code (IBC) brings these standards up-to-date with the latest ASCE 7 Standard (ASCE 7-16). The intent of this document is to provide clarity and insight regarding the Risk Category for a new or existing communication structure by comparing the risk categories from Rev H (Table 2-1) to the risk categories defined in IBC for buildings and other structures.

The introduction of fifth-generation (5G) mobile broadband technology is set to change how people and machines communicate and even how industries do business. 5G network deployments are expected to provide significant economic and efficiency gains in the markets where they are deployed. This report explores the technical preparations that are taking place to bring 5G networks to market, and defines technical terms needed to understand the technology.

This white paper identifies training and educational needs across a broad swath of technologies as the network moves closer to the end user. While candidate technologies and use cases are being evaluated for 5G, which is scheduled to be standardized by 2020, this report aims to address the need for effective on-the-job training, classroom, and online education to help the industry create a skilled labor workforce to build future generations of heterogeneous networks.

Wireless infrastructure plays a crucial role in how businesses, citizens and governments operate in today’s mobile-first world. These networks are critical to everything from education and business to public safety and health care. Wireless networks in the U.S. delivered 42.7 petabytes of data every day in 2016, a figure expected to grow to 200.5 petabytes per day by 2020. This report discusses how wireless infrastructure provides the foundation upon which the wireless industry will deliver the applications, services, and jobs that will fuel the U.S. economy for years to come.

This research report provokes and invites further actionable thoughts and ideas to cut through the digital divide to provide true ubiquitous access to broadband services for all U.S. citizens. While advanced wireless networks have a ubiquitous impact on all facets of society and business, this report will focus on its potential impact on public safety, agriculture, healthcare, the automotive industry and general productivity in rural communities throughout the United States.

Attaching small wireless antennas and associated equipment – such as Distributed Antenna System (DAS) remote units, remote radio units and self-contained small cells – on existing poles or structures significantly improves the coverage and capacity of mobile networks. Read more in this white paper titled “Small Cells on Pole Facilities: A Primer on How Utility Poles, Street Lights and Traffic Signals Will Help Drive Next-Generation Mobile Broadband Networks.”

Six out of 10 Americans watch videos on their mobile phones on a daily basis, according to a new research report by iGR and commissioned by the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA). With so many users downloading or streaming video and music to their wireless devices via standard cellular data service, there is mounting pressure on mobile networks to meet the growing demand for more capacity. Download the entire research report for more data and insights.

Demand for mobile broadband is driving the need for small-cell architecture to supplement the macrocellular layer of commercial cellular coverage in today’s 4G networks and for eventual 5G deployments. Street furniture – utility poles, bus-stop enclosures or any other street-level infrastructure that can house wireless equipment – offers highly effective tools in the mobile carriers’ toolboxes to bring their networks closer to their customers, if deployments can be done in an efficient manner.

Application of ANSI/TIA-222-G structure classes to communication tower design and analysis is frequently misapprehended. Risk categorization by building officials and jurisdictional authorities with respect to communications towers often flows directly from baselines established with ASCE-7 and IBC that are historically related to building occupancy or other factors that have little correlation to communication tower use and function. Explore this issue and other issues in “Classification Tower Structures per ANSI/TIA-222-5, IBC and ASCE-7.” Note: Updated May 2017

Broadband is economic fuel, and wireless broadband access is an increasingly vital form of telecommunications. To ensure widespread, fair access and a competitive market environment, thoughtful regulations that promote efficient, timely deployments and encourage wireless broadband investment by the private sector are key for cities.

This white paper explains how to save time and money by including plans for cellular connectivity at the beginning stages of the design process.

This white paper outlines the requirements for fronthaul and backhaul transport solutions that are essential for the projected increases in cellular network usage, including the anticipated proliferation of equipment that will be necessary as the Internet of Things (IoT) emerges.

This white paper explores the fundamental shift in deploying in-building wireless systems as mid-tier venues emerge as the biggest growth area for DAS deployments.

This white paper confronts the reality that the demand for wireless infrastructure continues to outpace the industry’s existing labor force of trained technology professionals, engineers and field technicians.