Fiber and wireless are often seen as two sides of the broadband coin. But, according to David Reed of CableLabs (News - Alert), these two technologies are a match made in heaven.

 

That was effectively the message sent by Reed during his brief presentation at the Broadband Workshop on Future Fiber Architectures and Local Deployment Choices event held by the FCC (News - Alert) yesterday.

 

Reed said in the past he’d been part of research looking at whether broadband networks could be built relying entirely on wireless technology, such as mesh networks. However, he emphasized the importance of fiber, saying radio technology is most effective at short range, and noted that wireless within the home is practical and doable today.

 

The industry, he said, will be involved in a tussle over the next 20 or so years, he said, with wireless moving to be more local and fiber helping make it more local. While Reed indicated he is not a proponent of femtocells, he foresees fiber serving as the Internet infrastructure for what will become a predominantly wireless space.