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CenterFuse Broadband Feasibility Report Point-to-Multipoint Wireless There are two wireless ISPs (WISPs)—Kittitas Broadband and Symplified - using this technology to deliver broadband within the city limits. Together these providers have a 4%market penetration. The network for this technology consists of radios placed at a tower or another tall location, and connections to homes and businesses are beamed wirelessly. There are several current frequencies of spectrum that can be used for this purpose and more that will be coming on the market in the next few years: There are several factors that are important in defining the strength of the wireless connection and the amount of bandwidth that can be delivered to customers: • Using Multiple Frequencies. The newest radios are much improved over radios from just a few years ago because they use spectrum bands including 2.4 GHz, 3.5 GHz, and 5.0 GHz. This year the FCC released new spectrum for rural broadband including white space spectrum, CBRS spectrum, or C-Band spectrum. However, those spectrums are not supposed to interfere with cellular companies in cities. This means these extra spectrums might or might not be available to improve the performance of fixed wireless in and near to Ellensburg. Having more spectrum matters because each frequency band has different operating characteristics in terms of distance and the ability to penetrate obstacles. Having multiple frequencies available means an increased opportunity to find a good solution for each customer in the service area. • Adequate Backhaul. The best fixed wireless coverage comes when there is fiber at the transmitter. Customer broadband speeds are diminished if a tower doesn't receive enough bandwidth. • Terrain/Topology. There are often physical barriers like hills or heavy woods that can limit or block customer bandwidth. Homes in a city can block the signal from reaching a neighbor. Most of these technologies require a line of sight, meaning that there must be a clear unimpeded visual path between the tower and the customer. The wireless signals also can be degraded by rain or snowstorms. Cellular Broadband The survey showed that about 1%of residences use only their cellphone for home broadband. There are obvious limitations on cellphone for home broadband. The amount of broadband capacity is small compared to wireline broadband. Most standard cellular plans provide 10 gigabytes of broadband usage per month or less. Even the unlimited plans offer only 20—25 gigabytes per month of broadband. One of the limitations on unlimited data plans is that they can only be used to tether to computers or other devices for a limited amount of capacity per month—most of the data in the plan must be consumed by the cellphone. Customers can buy more broadband when they exceed the subscribed capacity, but this is some of the most expensive broadband in the world, typically priced at $10 per extra gigabyte. While it would be unusual for somebody in the city to spend a lot for cellular data plans, CCG has talked to rural customers across the US who have monthly cellular data bills in excess of$500 per month if they use cellular data to support students doing homework. Page 72