Page 4 - SAMENA ELITE - Jan-Mar 2024

EDITORIAL
4 JAN-MAR 2024

Fixed Wireless

Access (FWA)

Potential for

Broadband

Bocar A. BA
Chief Executive Officer
& Board Member
SAMENA Telecommunications Progress
Council

Operators in the SA-ME-NA region and, to some tion, development, and contributions in the digital
extent, in the neighboring regions, including age. As a versatile technology that can benefit
Central Asia, have invested heavily in 5G a wide range of industries beyond just providing
networks. However, satisfactorily monetizing high-speed broadband internet to homes and
these investments remains a critical challenge. businesses, FWA is expected to account for over
More importantly, the critical need for developing 25% of the world’s 5G connections over the next 4
human digital capacity, ensuring digital years.
participation, and societal development, at large,
is of the essence. Compared with fixed-network technologies
(which, of course, have their own merits), FWA has
Due to a myriad of variables, encompassing the advantage of low-cost deployment and can
regional and cultural constraints, geographical speedily improve broadband penetration rate.
and demographical challenges, policy matu- That is to say, FWA can help connect more people
rity levels, educational levels, occupations, age, more quickly and enables more people to enjoy
gender, and economic indicators, inhabitants of digital life – a mission SAMENA Council is closely
the SA-ME-NA and neighboring regions continue engaged in fulfilling with global entities, and
to have access to vastly different amounts of on which we launched a “universal broadband
information transmission resources. This critically financing framework” in November 2023.
impacts common development and progress of
citizens of these markets. Market analysis shows that FWA will play an
increasingly important role in the development of
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), with its inherent cost 5G networks around the world, offering highly use-
and deployment efficiencies as well as use-cases, ful and scalable applications such as High-Speed
offers some viable means to monetize 5G invest- 5G Home Internet, VoIP, TV/Live Content, Managed
ments while also accelerating human participa- Network Services, Gaming, VR & AR Experiences,

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