Dense Fiber Networks Will be Necessary for All Mobile Platforms After 5G

Dense fiber networks are key for telco home broadband, 5G small cell networks and internet access for enterprises and small business. They might become important to support private networks and edge computing as well. 

Dense fiber networks also are virtually a necessity for all future generations of mobile networks beyond 5G. 

The reason is the use of ultra-high frequencies and the corresponding need for small cell networks. Coverage requirements--even coverage spectrum in the low-band and mid-bands--also will likely rely on denser networks as well.

Though new spectrum is among the tools mobile operators use to increase capacity, the biggest boosts have come from shrinking cell sizes. Eventually, as mobile operators try to keep pace with data demand using their “coverage” spectrum (low-band and mid-band), it will make sense to shrink cell sizes even of the coverage network spectrum. 

All that means dense fiber access and distribution networks will assume a permanent place in mobile network design. 

Given a choice, executives in the mobile business would prefer to use lower-frequency spectrum than high-frequency assets. Lower frequencies propagate better, so are easier to manage when coverage is really important. But executives do not have unlimited choice. 

Lower-frequency assets are largely allocated to various other users and even when low-frequency assets can be reclaimed, bandwidth necessarily is limited, as frequency and capacity are directly related. As optical fiber inherently supports higher bandwidth, so higher wireless frequencies support higher capacity. 

That means  teraHertz communicaitons are going to be part of the future mix of mobile communications, even though we have only begun to use millimeter wave frequencies. 

source: Mi-Wave 

Ultra-dense optical fiber networks will be necessary, as teraHertz signals dissipate after a score or two meters, using currently-available radio technology. So coverage will likely continue to be dominated by low-band and mid-band frequencies, with millimeter increasingly used for high-demand areas where optical fiber backhaul is prevalent. 

Commercial teraHertz coverage might well resemble Wi-Fi distances, if even more challenging as signal propagation is line of sight. That suggests optical fiber density very close to fiber-to-home deployments.