ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)

TECHNICAL REPORT
Long term view on Fixed Services
in frequency bands below 10 GHz;
Assessment of low frequency bands importance
in delivering ubiquitous network coverage

2 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)

Reference
DTR/ATTMTMmWT-0033
Keywords
backhaul, microwave, wireless
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ETSI
3 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
Contents
Intellectual Property Rights . 5
Foreword . 5
Modal verbs terminology . 5
Executive summary . 5
Introduction . 6
1 Scope . 8
2 References . 8
2.1 Normative references . 8
2.2 Informative references . 8
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations . 9
3.1 Terms . 9
3.2 Symbols . 10
3.3 Abbreviations . 10
4 Spectrum Considerations . 11
4.1 Available Microwave Spectrum . 11
4.2 Spectrum Requirements . 13
5 Spectrum Segmentation in Wireless Backhaul. 14
5.1 Wireless Backhaul Trends . 14
5.2 Low Bands Application Scenarios . 15
5.3 Bands below 10 GHz Statistics . 15
5.3.1 Worldwide wireless backhaul statistics . 15
5.3.2 CEPT Countries - ECC Report 173 and ECC Report 365 . 16
5.3.3 Real Networks - Tier 1 Operators . 17
5.3.4 USA statistics. 17
5.3.5 Vendors statistics . 18
5.4 Bands < 10 GHz Trends . 19
6 Planning Considerations and Link Lengths Statistics . 20
6.1 Microwave Planning Basic Concepts . 20
6.1.1 Overview . 20
6.1.2 Multipath fading . 20
6.1.2.1 Multipath fading highlights . 20
6.1.2.2 Outage due to non-selective fading . 21
6.1.2.3 Outage due to selective fading . 21
6.1.2.4 Space Diversity improvement . 21
6.1.2.5 Total outage caused by multipath . 21
6.1.3 Rain attenuation . 22
6.1.4 Availability prediction . 22
6.2 Low Bands Performances Comparison . 23
6.2.1 Planning assumptions . 23
6.2.2 Impacts of rain attenuation and multipath fading . 23
6.2.3 60 mm/h link planning results. 24
6.2.4 95 mm/h link planning results. 25
6.2.5 Short Haul planning results . 26
6.2.6 Conclusions. 27
6.3 Link Length Statistics . 27
6.3.1 Europe link length statistics . 27
6.3.2 Sub-Saharan Africa link distribution . 28
6.3.3 USA link length distribution . 28
7 Conclusions . 30
Annex A: ECC Report 173 responding countries . 31
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4 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
Annex B: Country Split . 32
Annex C: Change history . 37
History . 38

ETSI
5 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
Intellectual Property Rights
Essential patents
IPRs essential or potentially essential to normative deliverables may have been declared to ETSI. The declarations
pertaining to these essential IPRs, if any, are publicly available for ETSI members and non-members, and can be
found in ETSI SR 000 314: "Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs); Essential, or potentially Essential, IPRs notified to
ETSI in respect of ETSI standards", which is available from the ETSI Secretariat. Latest updates are available on the
ETSI IPR online database.
Pursuant to the ETSI Directives including the ETSI IPR Policy, no investigation regarding the essentiality of IPRs,
including IPR searches, has been carried out by ETSI. No guarantee can be given as to the existence of other IPRs not
referenced in ETSI SR 000 314 (or the updates on the ETSI Web server) which are, or may be, or may become,
essential to the present document.
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Foreword
This Technical Report (TR) has been produced by ETSI Technical Committee Access, Terminals, Transmission and
Multiplexing (ATTM).
Modal verbs terminology
In the present document "should", "should not", "may", "need not", "will", "will not", "can" and "cannot" are to be
interpreted as described in clause 3.2 of the ETSI Drafting Rules (Verbal forms for the expression of provisions).
"must" and "must not" are NOT allowed in ETSI deliverables except when used in direct citation.
Executive summary
Wireless Backhaul is and has always been a key asset in building transport networks not only for reaching locations not
yet connected by fibre thanks to the high capacity delivered and the fast time to market, but also to provide effective
disaster recovery networks and fibre back-up.
Notwithstanding fibre penetration and mobile networks evolution shifted network topology towards short link at in high
bands (15 GHz to 80 GHz), infrastructure network in developing countries, rural areas, mountain sites and islands
require long reliable MW links.
Moreover, last mile links connecting mobile sites to the first fibre PoP and feeder links and high capacity backbones
that aggregate the traffic of multiple sites are deployed also in low bands: hops longer than 15-30 km rely on frequency
bands lower than 10 GHz thanks to reduced rain attenuation and favourable propagation conditions.
In the present document different aspects of wireless backhaul have been analysed in order to have a picture of the
usage of different bands, in general, and bands lower than 10 GHz in detail.
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6 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
Clause 4 gives overview on bands available for Fixed Services and relevant application scenarios. Capacity
requirements and MW capability to fulfil them are the key point to understand the necessity to have enough spectrum in
different frequency bands to grant ubiquitous ultra-broadband connectivity.
Clause 5 collects analysts, vendors and international organizations bands statistics to present actual bands deployments
and trends for wireless backhaul. Focusing on bands below 10 GHz regional segmentations have been analysed
highlighting huge differences across the world on band usage. The relevance of the discussion on low bands allocation
is underlined by the operators' contributions: some global level operators disclosed their network statistics giving an
insight of configurations and applications of these bands and confirming their unique value to deliver reliable high-
capacity connections.
Clause 6 gives a high-level introduction of microwave planning rules defined by ITU-R and compare the link
performances in low bands (6 GHz to 13 GHz). Since propagation losses vary with the frequency band and
geographical area, 6 GHz, 7 GHz and 11 GHz have been considered, using different configurations and setting the
parameters for deigning hypothetical links. The analysis demonstrates that under specific propagation conditions the
performances of 11 GHz over medium long links do not meet the KPI usually set in mobile backhaul networks. Link
length statistics in Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa and USA have been reported showing a great spread in average and
maximum link length deployed mainly due to different application scenarios and wide variations in rainfall across the
regions.
The information collected confirm the need of granting enough spectrum to wireless backhaul, including bands below
10 GHz, to build ubiquitous, reliable and ultra-Gbps communication networks.
Introduction
Microwave Radio, Fixed Service as per ITU-R Radio Regulation, represents a key technology for building
infrastructure communication networks since early 1950's of last century serving multiple application scenarios,
evolving from long haul nationwide backbones to present wireless backhaul links capable to deliver ultra-Gbps
capacities required by 5G mobile access.
Mobile backhaul network topology is evolving from tree topology to hub-and-spoke as long as the fibre penetration and
mobile network densification increase: not only chains of cascading links are shortening but high frequency bands
became predominant in wireless backhaul (ETSI White Paper No.25 [i.1]).

Figure 1: Topology evolution in the macro cell backhaul network
Nevertheless, widespread 4G/5G coverage requires nationwide transport network capable to reach remote locations,
small rural/mountain communities or island/offshore sites and microwave technology is a key enabler in delivering
ultra-broadband connectivity wherever fibre is not available.
Moreover, even though Mobile Sites Backhaul (MBH) is the main application scenario, wireless transport complements
or substitute wirelines in multiple telecom and vertical deployments:
• National Broadband Networks, to deliver fixed broadband connection remote areas like mountains
communities or islands.
• Local operators, WISP/ISP infrastructure networks.
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7 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
• Army/police, utilities and broadcasters' private communication networks and data collection.
• Private line connection to Small and Medium Enterprises, schools, hospitals.
• Disaster recovery communication networks after emergencies like floods, earthquakes, fires.
Microwave Radio delivers fast, flexible and reliable broadband and ultra-broadband connections, the choice of
frequency band according to different application scenario, required capacity and link length:
• Short haul radios are available in all MW bands (6 GHz to 80 GHz) and are mainly used in last mile
connections: split mount or full outdoor architecture in high bands (≥ 18 GHz) or mm-wave deliver ultra-Gbps
connectivity over short distances. Mid/low bands are chosen to collect the traffic from sites far from fibre PoP.
• Long haul radios are available in low bands (≤ 13 GHz) and are mainly used in long feeder links or high
capacity backbones, even though they can be selected in the last mile for covering distances higher than
30-40 km to deliver ultra-Gbps connectivity.

Figure 2: Microwave application scenarios
The availability of enough spectrum in each segment is paramount important to grant broadband connectivity in each
network layer: high power E-Band, E-Band and E-Band-traditional bands BCA provide ultra-Gbps capacities with
simple configurations over relatively small distances for both access and feeder links, while the lack of very wide
channels in lower frequency bands leads necessarily to multi-channels single band or multiple bands configurations to
deliver the required capacity over longer distances either as last mile connection or as fibre alternative/complement over
long haul backbones.
The present document will report microwave bands usage and application scenarios focusing on low bands assessing
the actual deployment inside and outside Europe to map present and future needs to fulfil operators backhauling needs.

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8 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
1 Scope
The present document assesses the importance of low frequency bands in wireless backhaul networks collecting
information on current use by Fixed Services of the bands lower than 10 GHz, expected use on medium term and
reporting technical considerations on why bands below 10 GHz are necessary to deploy long haul links, supported by
link planning examples and bands performances comparison in different areas.
2 References
2.1 Normative references
Normative references are not applicable in the present document.
2.2 Informative references
References are either specific (identified by date of publication and/or edition number or version number) or
non-specific. For specific references, only the cited version applies. For non-specific references, the latest version of the
referenced document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE: While any hyperlinks included in this clause were valid at the time of publication, ETSI cannot guarantee
their long term validity.
The following referenced documents may be useful in implementing an ETSI deliverable or add to the reader's
understanding, but are not required for conformance to the present document.
[i.1] ETSI White Paper No. 25 (February 2018): "Microwave and Millimetre-wave for 5G Transport".
[i.2] Recommendation ITU-R P.530-17: "Propagation data and prediction methods required for the
design of terrestrial line-of-sight systems".
[i.3] Recommendation ITU-R F.746-11: "Radio-frequency arrangements for fixed service systems".
[i.4] ETSI GR mWT 012 (V1.1.1): "5G Wireless Backhaul/X-Haul".
[i.5] Radio Regulation, Edition of 2024: Articles (Vol.1) and WRC-23 Final Acts (Vol.3).
[i.6] ETSI White Paper No. 58 (July 2023): "Worldwide Analysis and proposals to promote and
facilitate the wireless transport networks as the key enabler for fat mobile backhaul network
modernization".
[i.7] GSMA Wireless Backhaul Evolution-Delivering next-generation connectivity (2021).
[i.8] ECC Report 173: "Fixed Service in Europe Current use and future trends post 2022".
[i.9] ECC Report 365: "Fixed Links in CEPT; Technical characteristics and statistical review".
[i.10] Recommendation ITU-R P.530-19: "Propagation data and prediction methods required for the
design of terrestrial line-of-sight systems".
[i.11] Recommendation ITU-R P.837-8: "Characteristics of precipitation for propagation".
[i.12] Recommendation ITU-R PN.837-1: "Characteristics of precipitation for propagation".
ETSI
9 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
3 Definition of terms, symbols and abbreviations
3.1 Terms
For the purposes of the present document, the following terms apply:
access link: last mile connection to site (fixed or mobile)
dense urban: location in highly populated areas (malls, business districts, city centres) very close to fibre PoP:
distances less than 1 km and very high capacity, up to 50 Gbps
NOTE: Usually, one single hop is enough to connect the base station to fibre PoP.
feeder link: connection aggregating traffic from more than one site
long haul: long distance multichannel connections in frequency bands ≤ 13 GHz.
NOTE: Long haul systems are typically designed for easily deliver multichannel (N ≥ 8), BCA, space diversity
combiner, narrow band filters and could be either all indoor mount or split mount.
n+0: multi-channel link configuration where n channels in one or more than one band are transmitted together
NOTE: In Ethernet era, the channels are aggregated together at Layer-1 level to increase the capacity of the link;
this type of configuration is generally addressed also as Band and Carrier Aggregation.
rural: locations like small communities or scarcely populated areas generally far from fibre PoP: distances higher than
10 km and capacity up to 5 Gbps
short haul: split mount systems delivering connectivity in all bands
NOTE: Typical configurations are up to 4 + 0 according to the network layer they are used. Short haul radio in
bands ≤ 13 GHz can be used for delivering long haul connections in configuration simpler than long haul
systems.
sub-urban: location in less populated areas (like suburbs or small cities) with distances in the range of 5 km to 10 km
to fibre PoP and delivering capacity up to 10 Gbps
NOTE: Usually one/two hops are enough to connect the base station to fibre PoP.
trunk / trunking: general terminology including both Long Haul and Short haul radio in multi-channel configuration
delivering feeder long distance multichannel connections in frequency bands ≤ 13 GHz
NOTE: Capacity may vary according to type of service backhauled and number of mobile sites aggregated
reaching 10 Gbps to 15 Gbps.
urban: location in populated areas close to fibre PoP: distances less than 5 km and relatively high capacity up to
20 Gbps
NOTE: Usually, one single hop is enough to connect the base station to fibre PoP.
6 GHz: 5 925 MHz to 7 110 MHz
L6 GHz: Lower 6 GHz: 5 925 MHz to 6 425 MHz
U6 GHz: Upper 6 GHz: 6 425 MHz to 7 110 MHz
7 GHz: 7,11 GHz to 7,9 GHz
L7 GHz: Lower 7 GHz: 7,125 GHz to 7,425 GHz
U7 GHz: Upper 7 GHz: 7,425 GHz to 7,725 GHz
8 GHz: 7,725 GHz to 8,5 GHz
L8 GHz: Lower 8 GHz: 7,725 GHz to 8,8275 GHz
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10 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
U8 GHz: Upper 8 GHz: 8,275 GHz to 8,5 GHz
3.2 Symbols
For the purposes of the present document, the following symbols apply:
p Multipath occurrence factor
R Rainfall intensity exceeded for 0,01 % of an average year (mm/h)
0.01
dN Point refractivity gradient in the lowest 65 m of the atmosphere not exceeded for 1 % of an
average year
s Area terrain roughness as defined in Recommendation ITU-R P.530-17 [i.2]
a
3.3 Abbreviations
For the purposes of the present document, the following abbreviations apply:
th
4G 4 Generation Mobile Networks
th
5G 5 Generation Mobile Networks
AI Action Item
APAC Asia-Pacific
APT Asia-Pacific Telecommunity
ASMG Arab Spectrum Management Group
ATU African Telecommunications Union
BCA Band and Carrier Aggregation
CCDP Co-Channel Dual Polarization
CDF Cumulative Distribution Function
CEPT European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States
CITEL Inter-American Telecommunications Commission
CS Channel Spacing
ECC Electronic Communications Commitee
FCC Federal Communication Commission
FDD Frequency Division Duplex
FS Fixed Services
FSS Fixed Satellite Services
IMT International Mobile Telecommunications
ISP Internet Service Providers
KPI Key Performance Indicator
LATAM Latin America
LTE Long Term Evolution
MBH Mobile Backhaul
MEA Middle East and Africa
MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output
mmW millimeter Wave
MNO Mobile Network Operator
MW Microwave
NAM North America
OLO Other Local Operators
PoP Point of Presence
PtP Point-to-Point
QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation
RCC Regional Commonwealth in the field of Communications
RLAN Radio Local Area Networks
SD Space Diversity
WISP Wireless Internet Service Providers
WRC-19 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2019
WRC-23 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2023
WRC-27 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2027
WRC-31 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC) 2031
XPIC Cross Polar Interference Canceller
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11 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
4 Spectrum Considerations
4.1 Available Microwave Spectrum
Frequency bands used in modern Wireless Backhaul Networks range from 4 GHz to 86 GHz and studies for going
beyond 90 GHz are in an advanced stage with prototypes showcased in W-Band (92 GHz to 114,25 GHz) and D-Band
(130 GHz to 174,8 GHz).
Figure 3: Microwave Spectrum
Frequency band choice takes into account different aspects as the required capacity, link distance and required KPI:
• Frequency bands up to 13 GHz allow to cope medium-long distances but the limited spectrum availability
limits the capacity per channel and typically Bands and Carrier Aggregation is required to scale up the
throughput.
• Frequency bands from 15 GHz to 42 GHz achieve shorter distances but thanks to higher spectrum amount
wider channels are feasible allowing to deliver high throughput with simpler systems.
• E-Band (71 GHz to 76 GHz and 81 GHz to 86 GHz) is suitable for short ultra-high capacity links
Microwave radio systems work in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) scheme: Recommendation ITU-R F.746
st
(1 edition 1991) (Recommendation ITU-R F.746-11 [i.3]) defines radio patterns general rules for minimizing the
carrier-to-interference and allowing the deployment of single carrier system (one go channel + one return channel) or
multi-carrier system (n go channels + n return channels).

Figure 4: FDD channel arrangement
The net band available for wireless backhaul typically considers only the number of channels available per band and
actual backhaul capacity of a FDD microwave link is calculated on one single channel (see note), being the transmission
symmetrical.
NOTE: Air Capacity is calculated according to the Nyquist Law:
�� � �
����
Air Capacity �
���
Where:
BW = Channel Bandwidth [MHz]
th
N � log X are the bits per symbol of X modulation level
���� �
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12 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
α = Nyquist Filter Roll-Off
Channel allocation on link basis or per block to different users (e.g. MNO, Utilities, Government, Army, WISP and
OLO) and limitations on frequency channel reuse to avoid interferences, prevent to use the entire amount of available
channels and therefore the available backhaul capacity per link. Moreover, the available spectrum greatly varies from
country to country in term of bands open to commercial use and channel bandwidth allowed. Table 1 updates the one
reported in ETSI GR mWT 012 [i.4] and gives an overview of the wireless backhaul spectrum providing information
on:
• the total available bandwidth and the maximum channel size as per ITU-R Recommendations;
• the typical area of deployment in single-carrier and band and carrier aggregation arrangements;
• which bands are candidate for access technologies, focusing on bands below 10 GHz.
Table 1: Spectrum Availability
Max Areas of Deployment
Candidate/Allocated Frequency
Total BW Channel (Typical)
Access Bands Band
Size Single Carrier BCA
RLAN L6 GHz 533,7 MHz 59,3 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
IMT WRC-23
U6 GHz 640 MHz 80 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
(see note 1)
L7 GHz 238 MHz 56 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
IMT WRC-27 U7 GHz 224 MHz 56 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
(candidate within AI 1.7) L8 GHz 533,7 MHz 59,3 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
U8 GHz 168 MHz 28 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
IMT WRC-23
10 GHz 664 MHz 28 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
(see note 2)
11 GHz 960 MHz 80 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
13 GHz 448 MHz 56 MHz Rural Long Haul/Trunking
IMT WRC-27 Sub-Urban/
15 GHz 336 MHz 112 MHz
(candidate within AI 1.7) Semi-Rural/Rural
18 GHz 1 870 MHz 220 MHz Sub-Urban Semi-Rural/Rural
23 GHz 1 008 MHz 224 MHz Urban/Sub-Urban Semi-Rural/Rural
IMT WRC-19
26 GHz 1 736 MHz 112 MHz Urban
(see note 3)
Mobile
(Selected Countries 28 GHz 1 750 MHz 224 MHz Urban Sub-Urban/Rural
(see note 4))
32 GHz 1 484 MHz 224 MHz Urban Sub-Urban/Rural
IMT WRC-19 38 GHz 2 240 MHz 224 MHz Urban
(see note 5) 42 GHz 3 GHz 224 MHz Urban
Dense Urban /
FSS WRC-27 AI 1.10 E-Band 10 GHz nx250 MHz Sub-Urban
Urban
Dense Urban /
IMT W-Band 12 GHz nx250 MHz Sub-Urban
Urban
(WRC-31 candidate AI
Dense Urban /
(see note 6)) D-Band 32 GHz nx250 MHz
Urban
NOTE 1: Radio Regulation [i.5]:
• IMT identification according to WRC-23 footnotes RR 5.457E (Region 1), 5.457D (Cambodia, Lao
P.D.R., Maldives), 5.457F (Brazil and Mexico).
• Resolution 220 (WRC-23) applies.
NOTE 2: IMT identification in 10 GHz to 10,5 GHz in some Region 2 countries according to WRC-23 footnotes RR
5.480A [i.5].
NOTE 3: Radio Regulation [i.5]:
• Global IMT identification for 24,25 GHz to 27,5 GHz according to RR footnote 5.532AB.
Resolution 242 (WRC-19) applies.
NOTE 4: No regional harmonization, some initiatives at national level.
NOTE 5: Radio Regulation [i.5]:
• Global IMT identification for 37 GHz to 43,5 GHz (or portions thereof) according to RR
footnote 5.550B.
• Resolution 243 (WRC-19) applies.
NOTE 6: WRC-31 preliminary AI 2.6 [i.5].

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13 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
4.2 Spectrum Requirements
In past years, evolution of MW application from medium-long distance infrastructure network to Wireless Backhaul of
thousands mobile sites and wider fibre availability, shifted major requirements from low bands to high bands: higher
spectrum amount allows to serve multiple sites minimizing the interferences and achieve wide channels for delivering
high throughput (ETSI White Paper No. 25 [i.1]).

Figure 5: Microwave Spectrum Capacity vs. Coverage
Nevertheless, 5G coverage extension from urban to rural areas and national plans for extending broadband services to
white areas are increasing wireless backhaul capacity demand over medium-long distances.
Moreover, not only in developing countries the fibre availability is still scarce or even negligible outside the big cities,
but also in developed countries there could be areas not yet reached or not easy reachable by fiber that require high
capacity on medium/long BCA microwave links.
Finally, vertical players, like power utilities or broadcasters, and small operators and WISP/ISP rely on microwave
radios for building their infrastructure network.
Access site distance to the closest fiber PoP greatly varies across different networks. Mobile Backhaul capacity required
according to different deployment scenario are summarized in Table 2 (ETSI GR mWT 012 [i.4]).
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14 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
Table 2: Backhaul/X-Haul Capacity Requirements
Tail Link Capacity
Access
Area Requirements (Pre-)Aggregation
Sites Configurations Cell Type
Type 5G "Early 5G "Mature Capacity
Stage" Stage" Requirements
Dense • 5G 100 MHz 16L MIMO ~4 GHz
Urban • Small-cell
• 5G ≤ 800 MHz 4L MIMO Mix of
('DU')
~30 GHz
5 Gbps to
-
< 5 Gbps 10 Gbps &
• LTE 50 - 100 MHz
(single-hop)
≥ 10 Gbps
Urban
• 5G 100 MHz 16L MIMO ~4 GHz • Macro-
sites
('U') • 5G ≤ 800 MHz 4L MIMO cell
~30 GHz
Sub-
Urban
('SU')
• LTE 50-100 MHz • Macro- < 10 Gbps
< 3 Gbps < 5 Gbps
nd
Semi- cell (2 hop 'U')
• 5G 100 MHz 8L MIMO ~4 GHz
Rural
('SR')
• LTE 50-100 MHz
< 5 Gbps
• Macro- < 10 Gbps
nd
Rural ('R') • 5G 50 MHz 4L MIMO ~2 GHz < 2 Gbps < 3 Gbps (2 hop
rd
cell (3 hop 'U')
'SU')
• 5G 20 MHz 4L MIMO ~700 MHz
Even though advanced coding modulation schemes allow to reach 16k levels and cross Polar Interference Cancellation
(XPIC) technique doubles the spectral efficiency per channels, the capacity delivered by microwave links ranges from
250 Mbps per channel up to 1 Gbps per channel (x2 using XPIC) on traditional bands forcing to bundle more channels
or bands in multicarrier systems for delivering ultra-Gbps capacity.

Figure 6: 4G and 5G requirements vs Spectrum bands and channel size
The availability of enough spectrum resources is necessary to enable wireless backhaul and wide channels allow to
deliver the capacity required for fulfilling broadband targets set by government to enable the digital transformation
(ETSI White Paper No. 58 [i.6]).
5 Spectrum Segmentation in Wireless Backhaul
5.1 Wireless Backhaul Trends
The study in on evolution of wireless backhaul published by ABI Research for GSMA in 2021 [i.7] touched multiple
aspects, from technology innovation to spectrum availability, allocation and pricing, including capacity analysis and
link forecasts.
According to this study there will be 17,2 million backhaul links to collect traffic from Macro and Small Cells by 2027
(see note): 66 % (9,6 million) will be backhauled by Fixed Services, 42 % by fibre and only 2 % by satellite, confirming
that microwave will be a key asset for transport networks of MNOs (Figure 7).
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15 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)

Figure 7: Macro and Small Cell Backhaul Links Technology Segmentation (2027)
NOTE: Research takes into account operators and regulators feedbacks in 40 countries involving and insights of
backhaul vendors.
5.2 Low Bands Application Scenarios
Frequency band segmentation is related to region/country specific reasons related to applications and propagation
conditions:
• Long haul high capacity backbone. Countries lacking nationwide fibre infrastructure rely on MW technology
deploying multichannel links to carry 5-10 Gbps. These links are in the uppermost layer of aggregation
network and are designed with very high availability over medium long distances.
• Remote area connections. This type of application could be either a feeder link or a last mile link to connect
sites to the first fibre PoP: typical locations include but are not limited to islands, remote rural community,
mountain sites. High availability and medium long distances require multichannel configurations on feeder
links, while access sites direct connection may have antenna diameter limitations on the tail site.
• Remote areas disaster recovery/fibre backup. infrastructure networks rely on MW links to guarantee
connectivity continuity especially in mountain areas and islands.

Figure 8: Low Bands application scenarios
5.3 Bands below 10 GHz Statistics
5.3.1 Worldwide wireless backhaul statistics
Starting from ABI Research for GSMA study [i.7] snapshot of technologies used for mobile backhaul in 2021, it is
possible to extrapolate traditional band segmentation: out of 5,1 million links installed in 2021, about 2 million are
deployed in low bands (< 13 GHz) representing more than 30 % of the overall installed MW links and 40 % of
traditional bands links (Figure 9).
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16 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)

Figure 9: Frequency Band segmentation in 2021
5.3.2 CEPT Countries - ECC Report 173 and ECC Report 365
CEPT has analysed Fixed Service use and trends several times since 1997 asking Administrations to answer to
questionnaires: ECC Report 3 was issued in 1997 and revised in 2001, ECC Report 173 was issued in 2012 and revised
in 2018 and 2022.
Latest ECC Report 173 [i.8] collected the feedbacks of 26 administrations: deployment statistics includes all responding
administrations feedbacks, while trends have been evaluated considering only those administrations that answered also
to 2018 revision. Responding countries in 2022 and 2018 have been reported in Annex A.
About 690 000 FS active links have been declared in traditional bands (1 GHz to 42 GHz), out of which about 66 000
are in bands below 10 GHz: frequency bands statistics are reported in Figure 10.

Figure 10: PtP links 1 GHz to 42 GHz frequency bands distribution
Responding administrations will continue using bands below 10 GHz for reaching sites on islands, rural areas and
location not yet reached by fibre and in many countries is even expected an increase in 6 GHz and 7 GHz with
consequent increase of congestion in such bands.
ECC Report 365 [i.9] is a statistical review of fixed services characteristics: it collects the feedbacks of
14 administrations and provides an update on links per frequency band. Figure 11 reports the statistics of countries with
more than 1 000 links in bands below 10 GHz.
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17 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)

Figure 11: 1 GHz to 42 GHz frequency bands distribution
5.3.3 Real Networks - Tier 1 Operators
Bands segmentation of links deployed by Tier-1 Operators with affiliates across Europe and MEA countries is reported
in Figure 12. About 3 600 links are deployed in Europe and more than 11 000 in MEA leading to two considerations:
1) In Europe, where fibre has a deeper penetration, links in bands below 10 GHz are deployed to connect remote
locations such as islands and mountains where fibre is either not yet available or it is too difficult to lay.
2) In MEA links in these bands are key part of the operators' infrastructure network for building nationwide long
haul backbones.
Figure 12: Bands below 10 GHz deployment segmentation - Tier 1 Operators
Configurations vary from 2+0/4+0 for access links to 8+0/10+0 for feeder links and backbones, with capacities
requested up to 10 Gbps. Low bands are used for delivering high availability, since these links are deployed in the
highest hierarchy of the access network and on backbones, aggregating the traffic of 10 to 20 sites and, due to narrow
channels available in these bands, BCA is required for delivering the requested capacity.
The capacity is expected to increase to meet mobile traffic growth, therefore configurations will bundle more and more
channels and eventually different bands. Bands usage re-shuffle is expected due to L6 GHz and U6 GHz allocation to
RLAN and IMT.
5.3.4 USA statistics
Basic licenses attributes of MW point-to-point link installed in USA can be retrieved searching FCC Universal
Licensing Scheme database. Six bands are included in the analysis: 6 GHz, 11 GHz, 18 GHz, 23 GHz and 38 GHz.
U4 GHz, 7 GHz and 8 GHz are not available for fixed service.
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18 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)
More than 360 000 MW links are deployed across USA: high fibre availability in the cities is confirmed by the small
deployment in high frequency bands, while the large use of low bands suggests wide deployment to connect rural areas
and small/remote communities (Figure 13).

Figure 13: USA 6 GHz to 38 GHz Bands Distribution
5.3.5 Vendors statistics
Vendors delivery statistics from 2019 to 2024 have been collected to define the band distribution across different
regions: Europe, Commonwealth of Independent States, Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, North and Latin America.
Country split is reported in Annex B.
Notwithstanding country split may not completely overlap across different vendors sales organization, the countries that
may belong to two different regions are not many and the statistical error can be considered reasonably low.
About 3 million links have been delivered considered period in traditional bands (see note): low bands represent about
20 % of the overall traditional bands confirming their importance in infrastructure networks; out of them 7 GHz and
8 GHz are more than 65 % (Figure 14).
NOTE: Link configuration is 1+0 (bidirectional) to better track the spectrum required for implementing N+0
BCA configurations avoiding mutual interference.

Figure 14: 2019-2024 deliveries bands segmentation
Microwave deployment segmentation confirms the importance of wireless backhaul in regions where fibre is not widely
deployed, while the band segmentation reflects the region-specific application (Figure 15).
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19 ETSI TR 104 142 V1.1.1 (2026-02)

Figure 15: Traditional bands 2019-2024 deliveries regional segmentation
mmWave (V/E-Band) and subTHz (W/D-Band) are not included in the band's segmentations reported in this clause and
in clause 5.4 since their applications are mainly in dense urban and urban scenarios in stand-alone configuration and
sub-urban scenario in BCA configurations.
Traditional bands are wi
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