ISP Connexin Build Gigabit Wireless Broadband Network for Bradford

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) UK ISP Connexin appears to be in the build out phase of an upgrade to their Bradford business network, which is planned to cover the entire West Yorkshire city and should be able to deliver gigabit speeds (full duplex) using millimetre wave (mmWave) spectrum.

Connexin has been running a fibre optic fed wireless network in Bradford for awhile, which they use to connect local businesses and public WiFi hotspots etc. However this network was getting a bit old and needed some expansions. On top of that the local airwaves at 5GHz were starting to become a bit congested.

At this point the ISP decided to enhance their infrastructure by installing around 60 of Siklu’s EH-1200 series radios, which operate in the mmWave spectrum band (i.e. above 30GHz) and should be able to deliver Gigabit speeds at distances of up to 3.2kms (100Mbps is the minimum required).

William Kebbell, Connexin’s CTO, said:

“Connexin have already deployed Siklu Products as mid-mile/backhaul links, therefore we were familiar with the technology. In Bradford Siklu were able to offer low latency connectivity that could be easily scaled up to a high capacity network providing an efficient solution to alleviate last mile issues”.

Max Wilson, Connexin, added:

“The ability to expand our networks seamlessly to adapt to the needs of a city is crucial. By using Siklu’s mmWave wireless to complete the mid-mile distribution we don’t have to wait for permits to dig up roads and the disruption during integration of new hardware is limited”.

The bulk of this deployment only took a few months and was completed at the start of 2018. Connexin claims that the new wireless solution will perform like fibre but without the significant up-front trenching costs and problematic timeline indicative of fibre deployments. Local businesses can be connected to the new high-speed wireless broadband service within just 24 hours.

Siklu’s links are currently being fed from core sites of the city centre network. The strategy is now to expand the network outwards and complete the project within 3 to 5 months’ (i.e. by the end of 2018). Connexin is also planning to deploy additional radios to replace many of the city’s existing 5GHz backhaul links with Siklu’s mmWave solutions.