Wisper Internet, a US rural Internet service provider (ISP) and Tarana, a next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) broadband provider, announced the successful upgrade of their network this week. This improvement is now reportedly providing high-speed internet, reaching speeds of up to 400 Mbps, to rural and underserved communities across a vast 9,500 square miles of the US Midwest.
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Expansion and Development
According to the official announcement, Wisper, the first service provider in the US to embrace Tarana's ngFWA in 2021, has rapidly expanded its deployment. Currently, 310 Tarana-equipped towers provide reliable high-speed internet, with plans to add an additional 180 towers by 2024.
“While the development began as a Connect America Fund (CAF) 2 project, Wisper Internet noted, “This network is a catalyst for bringing fibre-class broadband to far more people than the 80,000 CAF2 sites we set out to cover. When we finish next year, we will have exceeded 1.2 million homes in total.”
Economic performance with ngFWA technology
Specifically, the ngFWA technology enables an improved approach, with Wisper's full build requiring 300 fewer towers than originally planned, resulting in significant annual savings of almost USD 5 million in operational costs.
“No other wireless solution has ever allowed us to scale like this, and the cost is far below what it would take to reach all these areas with fiber,” he said. Wisper.
Whisper said the impact of this technological advancement is not only strategic but also for end users in upgraded ngFWA networks. Residents who have been waiting for quality broadband can now have over 200 Mbps through Tarana technology.
By overcoming challenges such as obstructed line of sight (LoS), users can seamlessly connect multiple devices simultaneously, marking a transformative change in their online experience. Whisper noted that other providers could only manage to offer its 1.5 Mbps service in these areas.
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Wisper and Tarana
Wisper is a rural Internet service provider for residents of Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Kansas, Indiana and Illinois. Based in Milpitas, California, Tarana, through its next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) technology, serves over 200 operators in 21 countries.
