WLL (Wireless local loop) systems, also known as fixed wireless access (FWA) or wireless broadband, are an attractive option for network expansion where there is no cable infrastructure. They provide competition for copper wires and fibre in the ground, using radio transmission rather than fixed wire lines. Small villages could find WLL the best solution for broadband internet.

WLL operates at 3000 MHz, a much higher frequency than GSM, and is designed to link houses and commercial sites into a central base station. The antenna installations are much smaller than mobile base stations, partly because the 10 cm square receivers are mounted on the outside of the house like satellite receivers and can handle a much weaker signal than a mobile handset.

WLL has been slow to take off in the UK, but the government has relaxed some of the restrictions on its use recently and intends to hold a further auction of frequencies. Some local communities are setting up their own networks on a cooperative basis, using the unlicensed WLAN frequencies.