How reliable is microwave transmission

This guest blog was provided by Communication Infrastructure Corporation.

One of the biggest questions we get about microwave has to do with its reliability. This question is asked for two reasons. The first being that most people are generally unaware that Microwave has been a “staple” technology in the quiver of telecom companies for decades. In fact most people are unaware that the one-time Telecom Giant, MCI’s name stood for “Microwave Communications Inc.” If you make a long distance telephone call anywhere on earth, there is about a 25% chance part of your call will be carried by microwave signals. And those chances increase the more rural the area to you are calling from or too. Microwave transmission plays a major role in cellular phone companies where the connecting of thousands and tens of thousands of cell sites would not be possible without it. In the United States about 20% of all AT&T cell sites are served by microwave transmission. Outside of the United States, those percentages increase as the availability of fiber decreases.

We see that most telecom operators in the world use microwave transmission in some form or another, so how reliable is it? First of all we have to recognize that microwave transmission uses various frequencies in the available spectrum. Every Country has established spectrum policies and many follow comparable standards. Many different frequency bands are reserved for microwave use and not all frequencies have the same characteristics. For frequencies in the lower bands such as 6 GHz, climactic conditions have little effect on transmission. As you get into the higher bands, signals can be impacted by rain for example. But just because transmission can be effected by rain does not mean it won’t be reliable. The trained Microwave Transmission Engineer has many tools in his/her quiver to address and overcome those issues, and allow for reliable use of any band as long as it is designed properly. Just as it is difficult to build a bridge over the San Francisco Bay, does not mean it cannot be done reliably. It just means that the engineer much follow design guidelines to ensure the reliability desired.

Communication Infrastructure Corporation is a silver sponsor of The Trading Show Chicago. Marty Snyder, President and CEO of Communication Infrastructure Corporation, will be participating in a panel session at the event on the topic “Innovations in network and connectivity – discovering the next generation of fastest and most efficient trading routes.”