As Covid-19 arrested the daily routines of most people with the closing of schools and offices, broadband connections became arguably the most important lifeline for students and employees working from home. Pre-pandemic, wireless speeds were for the most part meeting customers’ demand and telecommunication service providers were focused more on projects that were aimed at bridging the digital divide and connecting the unconnected in rural parts of the country to urban centers, rather than robust enhancements or build-outs to their metro networks.
The reality today, however, is that this digital divide doesn’t just exist between rural and urban communities, but also within America’s largest cities. According to Bloomberg, some 500,000 households lack reliable connection in New York City; in Chicago, 1 in 5 students don’t have broadband, and in San Antonio, Texas, more than 38% of households lack in-home internet access.
And this connectivity issue is a growing indictment facing suburban areas just off urban centers like the outer boroughs of New York City, the outlying suburbs of Chicago or the expanding neighborhoods of Huston and Las Vegas, for example.
But why is a wireline network crucial for wireless? It is important to note that high winds, heavy snow, ice, and rain can all hamper wireless signals and its infrastructure. During a storm for example, damaged towers can cripple wireless signal transmissions.
And such disruptions do not have to happen locally in one’s backyard to feel its effects: a power outage in one part of a city can limit the routes internet traffic takes through the infrastructure during transmission to reach the outlining areas. With higher-than-normal data traffic along those wireless signals, internet speeds can slow down.
Fiber backhaul, on the other hand, can provide a high amount of backup capacity and maintain adequate speeds customers expect. Without a well-constructed fiber backhaul infrastructure, it would be difficult to safeguard wireless networks against increasing bandwidth demands, making this a vital consideration for the future accessibility of the internet for everyone, especially homeschoolers and remote workers.
With fiber backhaul, users can be less subject to such arresting connectivity issues and interruptions. Compared to mobile backhaul, businesses and homes accessing the internet through wired backhaul benefit from having a more stable connection since network interference is less of an issue. In addition, the speed of a wireless system that has a fiber backhaul can be faster in the event of an outage or service interruption than what a pure wireless network can offer.
So how are wireless service providers ensuring their network has the most solid infrastructure in place? It comes down to having established, trusted partnerships with fiber and wireless installation providers. For more than 30 years, telecommunication infrastructure installers like Hugh O’Kane Electric (HOK), lead by President, Hugh R O’Kane; has gained a cachet as a leading installation and service provider for New York City and its metro area, has been working with wireless providers Verizon, AT&T and others on a regular basis.
There is institutional knowledge Hugh O’Kane Electric is able to provide, as wireless service providers continue to build out their networks. These long-standing relationships have afforded Hugh O’Kane Electric a competitive edge because it has expert knowledge of an area’s infrastructure and is able to work within the required parameters of the wireless service providers much more easily as they deploy their wireless network grid. In doing so, Hugh O’Kane Electric is able to take the time required to provide them with the backhaul infrastructure they need to ensure their wireless customers will have continuous, robust connectivity.
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