With the announcement of a new national wireless broadband network which promises next generation wireless (LTE-A) on mobile devices within a couple of years, questions have been raised about how quickly rollout will take place and whether LTE-A is the panacea for wireless broadband, finally rivalling fibre.
"While the idea of wireless with fibre-like experience is something we all want, businesses in South Africa need to understand the differences and impact each technology will have in their environment," says Warren Bonheim, CCO of Zinia, a business Internet provider and wholesaler delivering the best networks under one provider.
LTE-A is the next generation of LTE wireless networks expected to meet increasing demand for mobile data and delivering much higher data speeds. According to reports LTE-A theoretically can get peak download speeds at 300 Mbps while standard 4G LTE stands at 150 Mbps. However, real world experiences of 42 Mbps and up to 90 Mbps are more likely.
Bonheim explains that there are additional factors which could affect speed and experience such as the device you are using, your distance to an LTE-A mast and how many others are on the network.
"Businesses must realise that the technology is new so initially coverage will be limited, the network providers would have to upgrade every site to LTE-A as well as upgrade the backhaul links which is a mammoth task. While the hype is most certainly justified, the reality is that these advances happen in stages and it could be a while until LTE-A reaches critical mass."
He explains that LTE-A can be a good alternative to fibre as it is convenient and has a quicker turnaround especially in areas where fibre is not available. Wireless is easier to roll out especially as there are no civils, digging/trenching or landlord approvals required. However, some companies are putting aerial fibre in place which reduces the time and complexity of implementing fibre services, which will give LTE-A a run for its money.
"There is a place for LTE-A, but it will never be on par with fibre," says Bonheim. "Fibre transmits data over light whereas wireless is transmitted over radio: the latency will always be higher - latency is the amount of time it takes for data to travel from one point to another. You always want your latency to be as low as possible as this affects your business and users' experience.
"While speeds may be faster on LTE-A, the way it is delivered will still be slower because wireless is always a shared service, which means the more people you have on the network the slower it gets."
He explains that fibre can offer stable speeds because the users are fixed in location and speeds can be managed and capacity controlled as the network expands.
"In addition, many users and businesses want uncapped data. We have never seen mobile data being uncapped except in very limited areas; for mobile data on LTE-A to really take off it will need to be uncapped."
"Small businesses may use LTE or LTE-A if they are not a high data usage business, because it is affordable and they are not too concerned with being capped. Bigger businesses will not rely on LTE-A because they need guaranteed service and assurance, although they may see it as an interim or backup solution."
Bonheim advises businesses to investigate carefully before choosing any connectivity option whether it's fibre or wireless. The fact is that if your ISP has a single agenda and only provides connectivity through one network, then you will never truly get an unbiased opinion. Every network has a great price and they are all good in their own way.
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