Federated Wireless expanded its Adaptive Network Planner (ANP) to support fixed-scale wireless deployments in support of the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program.

Federated's radio frequency management tool includes new support for multiband wireless networks alongside improved planning precision and performance for both large-scale fixed wireless access (FWA), enterprise, and shared spectrum deployments. Touted were the tool's AI-native capabilities for handling Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), 5 GHz unlicensed fixed wireless, and 6 GHz standard-power unlicensed fixed wireless.

The firm also touted GPU-driven processing to enable near real-time site validation during network design and customer qualification.

Other enhancements include high-fidelity 3D visualization of buildings and environmental clutter to improve planning accuracy, along with line-of-sight analysis for up to 100 locations simultaneously to accelerate feasibility assessments, spanning dense urban areas to rural and underserved regions as covered under BEAD's purview. Federated also hawked tools to help providers align service tiers and rate plans with predicted network performance.

The enhancements were framed as helping evaluate outdoor FWA and enterprise deployments with improved confidence and precision in order to meet BEAD guidelines as set by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), where coverage validation and spectrum justification are subject to close scrutiny.

ANP in its new form was claimed to simultaneously substantiate receiver-side performance for up to 10,000 broadband service locations (BSLs) and generate location-specific reports in accordance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Broadband Data Collection (BDC) and BEAD compliance requirements.

“Broadband deployments today live or die on planning and validation,” Federated Wireless CEO Iyad Tarazi explained in a statement. “These updates give providers a way to design multiband networks that can be justified technically, commercially, and regulatorily – before they commit capital or apply for funding.”

Initiated in 2021, the BEAD program was part of the U.S. federal government’s $65 billion Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA). The BEAD funds are targeted at expanding broadband networks to unserved and underserved areas while also providing ongoing financial support to increase access.

The program has since seen changes under the Trump administration, with a new focus on reducing regulatory burdens and deprioritizing fiber. Under the revamp, NTIA rules require broadband services to provide at least 100 Mb/s of uplink speed and 20 Mb/s of downlink speed, opening up options for cheaper-to-deploy FWA and satellite broadband services.