Google Fiber has made a $500,000 in-kind donation to DigitalC, a non-profit whose goal is to provide affordable broadband to underserved communities in Ohio.
A major element of the donation will be an expansion of DigitalC’s use of next-generation fixed wireless access (ngFWA) equipment from Tarana. The service offers symmetrical speeds as fast as 100 Mbps.
“This meaningful investment from GFiber adds bandwidth to our capacity to scale the Cleveland Model,” DigitalC CEO Joshua Edmonds said in a press release about the Google Fiber donation. :This community-based blueprint proves that next-generation technology can be deployed quickly, trusted deeply, and scaled effectively to deliver the superior internet experience more communities deserve.”
DigitalC was founded in 2021. The goal at the time was to use private LTE to support an internet service in low-income areas of Cleveland, Ohio using the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS).
Private LTE is an approach in which a network operator or enterprise installs its own base stations that are distinct from public LTE networks. At the time it launched, DigitalC said it would use Nokia’s Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) offering, which includes indoor and outdoor customer premises equipment, a network core and radio access.
Earlier this month, before the Google Fiber donation was announced, DigitalC connected its 6,000th household in Cleveland.
FWA changes the equation when it comes to low-cost deployments simply because much of the patch is wireless and makes extensive trenching unnecessary. As far back as 2015, Google filed for approval for experimental licensing in the CBRS band in Kansas City. The company also filed for permission to expand in 2016.
A similar approach is Microsoft’s Airband, which began in 2017. The initiative targets unserved areas via different technologies. In late 2022, Microsoft said it would partner with satellite company Viasat to provide Internet access to 10 million people in different parts of the world who do not have the Internet available to them today.
