SUMMARY
Astonishingly, only half of the world’s population is connected to the internet. It is a complex problem, exacerbated by regions of smaller population densities and the capital and operational expense outlays tied to deploying expansive public fiber and traditional public mobile networks. Private 4G LTE and 5G cellular networks and fixed wireless access deployments have great promise in both industrial use case transformation and closing the global digital divide. These solutions offer connectivity diversity, leveraging the provisioning flexibility and cost-effective coverage required for less densely populated regions — ultimately providing fiber-like performance powered by the lower latency and performance profiles enabled by 5G. Coverage gaps will continue to persist, but a new connectivity element can be deployed: low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite infrastructure.
LEO constellations and the creation of non-terrestrial networks (NTNs), buoyed by the efforts of AST SpaceMobile, Starlink, and others, are quickly emerging as viable considerations to support connectivity on a ubiquitous scale. These NTNs can enable first responders to roam between rural and populated areas and provide enterprises with primary wide area network coverage in areas underserved by terrestrial cellular networks. Furthermore, integrating LEO satellites into traditional radio access network infrastructure and terrestrial spectrum can also provide link diversity for commercial sites that require backup for wired connectivity.
Moor Insights & Strategy believes that Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions (formerly Cradlepoint) is well positioned to accelerate the use of LEO satellite WAN coverage and direct-to-unmodified-device connectivity to enable enterprise use cases. The company continues to demonstrate its capabilities in this regard, evidenced by decades of success in providing secure, enterprise-grade wireless WAN and private networking solutions.
