Equitable access to information and communication technologies has become a basic human right. However, residents’ ability to access these technologies significantly lags behind in areas with spotty or missing Internet connectivity. This issue is particularly pronounced in rural areas, where rugged terrain, long distances and sparse populations make it challenging to provision connectivity using high-speed wired backhaul. As a result, fixed wireless backhaul and last mile solutions, such as Television White Spaces (TVWS) and the Citizen Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) have emerged to connect populations where fiber and cable technologies are not economically viable. While fixed wireless can substantially lower the cost for Internet access, it often suffers performance issues that are poorly understood. Some factors affecting performance may be internal, stemming from network architecture, integration and frequency allocation. Other issues are external including weather and tropospheric effects, and the proximity of other in-band spectrum users, which in turn, may affect signal propagation properties or cause external interference.
