Broadband internet is a huge market; in fact, there are over 3000 wireless internet service providers (WISPs) in the United States. Many of these WISPs server rural towns and communities where internet would otherwise be hard to come by. In order to reach these far-off communities, WISPs need to use a higher bandwidth that can travel many more miles than standard broadband internet connection.
However, this high-range internet and the people who use it are in peril. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulates internet bandwidth in order to reduce interference. For example, a certain category of devices is required to use 5.35-5.47 GHz bandwidth, another can use 5.85-5.925 GHz, and so on, in order that their frequencies do not interfere with each other. But the range of these bandwidths varies greatly, the higher ones having a greater bandwidth.
In a recent ruling, the FCC restricted the use of “unlicensed spectrum”—like your Wi-Fi, rather than your cell phone coverage—to a lower bandwidth, in order to make more room in the higher bandwidths for licensed users. This would universalize the bandwidth for wireless internet but would also reduce its range. Rural communities that depend on the high-range bandwidths for their internet could experience a 65 percent drop in that range. Where once their routers could draw internet from a source 10 miles away, this would be reduced to 3.5 miles.
This will not stand. The Wireless Internet Service Providers Association (WISPA) is protesting the FCC ruling. WISPA represents the rights, values, and demands of industry members, like prominent equipment manufacturers Cambium Networks Ltd. and Mimosa Networks, Inc., as well as the largest fixed Wireless Internet Service Provider, JAB Broadband. Whatever it takes, JAB and WISPA will fight on our customer’s behalf. JAB Chief Development Officer Jeff Kohler commented, “Getting these rules right is of critical importance to JAB and our rural customers. We think the FCC just didn’t appreciate the consequences of its actions.”
How To Use This Information
With any of our JAB Brands—SKYBEAM, Digis, Prairie iNet, Rhino Communications, and T6 Broadband—you can count on your wireless internet service provider advocating on your behalf. And with JAB on your side, your internet will always be safe and speedy. To learn more about our services, please visit our JAB website, or get in touch with your local brand: SKYBEAM, Digis, Prairie iNet, Rhino Communications, or T6 Broadband.
How far does your internet have to travel?
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