Project Background
Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest in the state of Utah, along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley. The area is renowned for its many recreational activities, such as hiking and rock climbing, and as the source of the granite and other mineral blocks used to construct the Salt Lake Temple of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City. Although located only 15 miles from that metropolis, the region was emblematic of the “digital divide” as no fiber optic lines have ever been deployed through the canyon or valley and until Siklu was brought in, no wireless technology providing broadband speeds could reach the nearest fiber connections (aka, “points of presence,” or “PoPs”) and deliver that bandwidth to Little Cottonwood residents. Therefore, in December 2021, Utah Broadband embarked on a project to tap into those PoPs and deliver high-speed broadband to dozens of single-family residential homes in the canyon.
The Challenge
Utah Broadband first had to decide the best way to bring the bandwidth from those fiber PoPs to residents eager for true broadband connectivity. The PoPs are nearly 15 miles away and Utah Broadband decided to install microwave radios to get more bandwidth to their data-hungry customers in a cost-effective and scalable way. In addition, as the target areas are all residential, the equipment installed had to have a sleek, aesthetically-pleasing design as it would be located on homes in neighborhoods.
To deliver a reliable and cost-effective service, the equipment had to feature fiber-like speeds and latency and resistance to the RF interference common amongst frequencies such as 5 GHz. Furthermore, the customer premises equipment (CPE) installed on the roof or side of the home had to be an especially reliable product that could withstand all four seasons in Utah, for instance, with temperatures ranging from -15C / 5F in winter to 40C / 105F in summer. Lastly, Utah Broadband needed a reliable support system from the vendor, preferably one with a 24/7 immediate response philosophy.
Read the rest of the case study and learn how Utah Broadband leveraged Siklu’s MutliHaul and EtherHaul solutions to solve the broadband dilemma.
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