Radio Network Planning for 5G FWA at 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz: A Link- and Flow-Level Approach

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) offers a practical broadband solution in areas where fiber deployment is challenging, especially in rural regions. This study introduces a 3D point-cloud-based radio network planning framework for 5G FWA using both sub-6 GHz and 26 GHz bands. By incorporating detailed environmental features, the method classifies links as Line-of-Sight (LoS) or Non-Line-of-Sight (NLoS) and evaluates the effect of antenna elevation on LoS availability. Users in LoS are assigned to 26 GHz for higher throughput, while NLoS users fallback to 3.5 GHz. Network performance is analyzed at both link and flow levels under no interference and maximum interference conditions. The link-level results show that up to 7% of the 4,999 households fallback to 3.5 GHz under maximum interference, compared to 6.2% under no interference. At the flow level, various load balancing strategies are evaluated to assess their impact on flow-level throughput and overall system stability. The framework is validated using real data from a rural area in Pornainen, Finland. Findings demonstrate effective spectrum use and highlight the importance of proactive load balancing and infrastructure planning.