Fixed links play a vital if largely hidden role in telecommunications. They provide trunk, back haul and access links in many networks and are often engineered to very high levels of availability and reliability. Once the domain of telephone companies, the utilities and similar large organisations, advances in technology and the use of higher frequencies have led to smaller, low cost and easy to deploy equipment. Today, microwave links are available at frequencies up to 60 GHz and used by a wide range of organisations, small and large. In some countries point to point links can now be deployed without licence in the 5.8, 24 and 60 GHz bands.

Related work undertaken by Quotient’s consultants includes:

• Advising the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka on the re-deployment of microwave links to release spectrum for mobile operators at 1800 MHz
• Estimating the future demand for fixed link spectrum across all applications and frequency bands for the UK Radiocommunications Agency
• Quantifying the likely requirement for fixed links in the deployment of 3G mobile networks for the UK Radiocommunications Agency
• Dimensioning a microwave back haul network for a GSM operator in Asia