Short answer
If downtime affects revenue or operations, yes. FirstNet treats a primary link plus a diverse backup as the default design for revenue-impacting sites, because even business fibre can fail through last-mile cuts, provider outages or congestion.
In detail: Does your business need backup internet?
The level of redundancy should match your risk. FirstNet sizes it by asking what happens if the internet is down for two hours, or a full day:
- Single primary link: for non-critical sites where some downtime is tolerable and the risk is consciously accepted.
- Primary plus diverse backup: fibre paired with licensed microwave, fixed wireless or LTE for fast failover.
- Dual fibre on different carriers: ideally on diverse physical routes, for high bandwidth and carrier redundancy.
- SD-WAN across two diverse links: typically one fibre and one wireless, with automatic failover and traffic steering.
- LEO satellite: an independent path for remote or highly critical sites.
Diversity is what makes a backup useful. A second link on the same network or in the same trench can fail with the primary, so FirstNet, as a carrier-agnostic provider, places backups on different carriers or media. A fibre cut needs physical repair, and a well-designed backup keeps traffic flowing while that happens.