UScellular (NYSE: USM) and Tarana Wireless, the Milpitas, CA-based RF equipment manufacturer, have teamed up to provide fixed wireless access (FWA) high-speed internet connectivity for West Plains, MO residents and businesses. West Plains, with a population of over 12,000, is located in the southern part of Missouri in the Ozark Mountains region. The city is a regional hub for commerce, education, and healthcare in this part of the state.
Using Tarana’s next generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) platform, UScellular is planning to increase its network capacity and bring broadband speeds to the West Plains area. Note that this ngFWA deployment is what is referred to as a facilities-based FWA installation, meaning, it uses a dedicated base station that transmits over assigned licensed or unlicensed spectrum to remote units at the customer premises. This configuration differs from the carrier-based FWA that utilizes excess capacity on spectrum being used for 5G mobile services. At the end of 2Q24, UScellular reported 134,000 FWA subscribers on its 5G network.
Three UScellular towers in the West Plains area are already equipped with Tarana ngFWA base stations, which the company calls base nodes (BN). Remote nodes (RN) will be installed at a home or business when a customer signs up for the service.
In this particular application, Tarana’s ngFWA is using the 3.5 GHz CBRS spectrum. UScellular acquired 243 CBRS Priority Access Licenses (PALs) in 80 counties for $13.5 million in FCC Auction 105, Inside Towers reported. The mobile network operator also can use CBRS General Authorized Access unlicensed spectrum in its territory where it does not own PALs.
Tarana’s ngFWA is designed to deliver up to gigabit speeds, although typical downlink speeds are in the 300-400 Mbps range. The system is capable of line-of-sight or near line-of-sight transmissions, with a built-in RF interference cancellation feature, between the BN and up to 250 RNs per BN that are within a 1-2 mile range of the tower. Tarana claims this capability works well in the varying topography of rural West Plains.
“We know that many West Plains residents have limited internet options, and working with Tarana allows us to affordably and efficiently increase the data capacity on our network to enhance our Home and Business Internet offering for customers,” comments Mike Irizarry, UScellular EVP and CTO.
By moving away from 5G-based FWA, Irizzary sees using the BN/RN combination that Tarana offers as an attractive option in areas where the MNO has exhausted excess capacity for 5G-based FWA.
“In West Plains, we had to stop FWA sales because we were hitting capacity limits on the 5G network. This has happened in other areas too,” adds Irizzary. “Working with Tarana allows us to sell the [FWA] product again and provide a great experience.”
By John Celentano, Inside Towers Business Editor
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