OPTIMIZE YOUR FWA NETWORK EXPERIENCE AND MAXIMIZE PROFITABILITY
Testing the FWA user experience We know that the data usage by 5G FWA subscribers can be 12x that of mobile subscribers. So what’s driving this? 5G FWA is an alternative to fixed broadband, which means they are consuming the same content and services as a typical broadband subscriber. They’re watching streaming services such as Netflix, Apple TV+ or Amazon Prime Video. They’re making video calls using end-to-end encrypted apps such as WhatsApp and FaceTime. They’re using video collaboration tools such as MS Teams and Zoom. And they’re e-gaming, playing interactive, latency-sensitive ‘first-person shooter’ games such as Counter-Strike 2 where ‘ping-time’ on the network means ‘death’ for the gamer. Mobile 5G subscribers are using these same popular over-the-top (OTT) applications. It’s simply that FWA subscribers are using them more intensely, at higher resolution on bigger screens, and with a higher expectation of the quality of experience.
Thanks to the multitude of OTT apps and the ever-expanding range of devices, it’s simply not practical or financially viable to test every device, every OTT app and every interactive service. Instead, by testing the network against the key parameters of the most demanding and/or most commonly used OTT application/ service, operators can have the confidence they need to not just deliver a network capable of supporting the less intensive and/or less common OTT apps and services, but make user experiences promises, safe in the knowledge that their network will deliver. FWA subscribers are playing interactive, latency- sensitive ‘first-person shooter’ games such as Counter-Strike where ‘ping-time’ on the network means ‘death’ for the gamer.”
Key takeaway
Deploying and optimizing a 5G network for FWA services brings added complexity for the operator due to the variables of the network deployment, subscribers’ FWA CPE installation and how those subscribers are consuming and interacting with OTT services. Automation of network testing is essential in enabling operators to not just deploy FWA networks quickly and profitably, but in giving them the confidence they need that their network will deliver the FWA user experience they are promising and subscribers are expecting.
Learn more about how 5G network testing is evolving
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