- FWA used to be viewed as a technology of last resort when there was no alternative to fiber or cable
- It's now taking most of the broadband net adds in the U.S.
- T-Mobile's newly stated goal of reaching 12 million FWA subscribers by 2028 further validates its standing
We at Mobile Experts have been tracking the fixed wireless access (FWA) market for many years – seeing the growing diversity of radio technologies, ranging from purpose-built systems using “free” unlicensed spectrum to LTE and 5G FWA solutions using expensive licensed bands across sub-6 GHz and millimeter wave spectrum. In 2017, we predicted that 5G FWA would be a success. In recent months, that prediction has been validated: Confidence in it as a wired broadband alternative has substantially increased.
First, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) has left the door open for FWA to be eligible for a mass of BEAD-funded projects rolling through the complicated approval process involving various state broadband offices and the NTIA. While fiber remains the “gold” standard for the vast majority of BEAD projects, FWA and satellite broadband will play a role in connecting all Americans to “high-speed” broadband.
Another proof point of the growing confidence in FWA is T-Mobile’s newly stated goal of reaching 12 million FWA subscribers by 2028 – a 50% increase from its prior goal of 8 million FWA subscribers by 2025. While the company has adopted a hybrid “fiber plus wireless” strategy to tackle the broadband access market like its peers through several fiber joint ventures, T-Mobile is leaning more heavily on its 5G FWA strategy to tackle the near-term opportunities in home broadband and small business markets.
What’s behind this growing confidence in FWA? FWA had historically been viewed as a technology of last resort when there was no alternative to wired broadband infrastructure like fiber and cable. Operators deployed 4G FWA and proprietary FWA using unlicensed spectrum to offer “tens of Mbps” services. Today, FWA is considered a wired broadband substitute, and it is effectively competing against the incumbent broadband technology of choice, cable – taking most of the broadband net adds in the U.S. in the past year.
FWA changes
Looking back, many things have changed on both the technology front and consumer behavior, making consumers indifferent between wired and wireless:
Technology advancements
The 5G “umbrella” of technologies, including massive MIMO, 5G standalone, quality of service through network slicing, carrier aggregation, millimeter wave access, etc., facilitate huge capacity increase and higher speed offerings. Technological advancements to increase capacity and speeds can also be found in the purpose-built FWA solutions that leverage shared and unlicensed spectrum to mitigate interference, providing hundreds of Mbps of throughput speeds. At the same time, advanced customer premise equipment (CPE) with flexible indoor/outdoor capabilities increases RF performance and reduces the installation cost, making FWA economics more favorable.
Spectrum availability
The spectrum landscape for wireless (FWA and mobile broadband) has exploded in the 5G era. The three major mobile operators in the U.S. have substantially increased their sub-6GHz licensed spectrum holdings – two to three times more than the 4G days. T-Mobile holds the largest sub-6 GHz licensed spectrum holdings – 35-40% advantage over its peers. Including about 1,000 MHz of millimeter wave spectrum, the mobile operators have ample spectrum depth for high-consumption services like FWA. The spectrum availability is not restricted to licensed bands. There are hundreds of MHz of unlicensed spectrum in the 5 GHz, 6 GHz and 60 GHz bands, and next-generation purpose-built FWA solutions like Tarana Wireless and others enable high-speed broadband possible for operators without licensed bands.
Acceptable broadband speeds
Today’s FWA speed offerings ranging from 50-300 Mbps are sufficient to meet today’s mainstream applications like video streaming. While it is inevitable that new applications and the increasing number of connected devices will eventually drive us towards gigabit services, most consumers are okay with today’s offerings that many FWA solutions can address.
Pricing parity
After promotional pricing to gain share, T-Mobile, the leading 5G FWA provider in the USA, has set pricing on par with cable broadband offerings with similar "typical" download speeds. With similar pricing and acceptable broadband speed offers, consumers are gradually becoming indifferent about the technology choice for broadband.
Extreme coverage
In addition to terrestrial fixed wireless, we are tracking tremendous growth in satellite broadband. We’ve been able to calculate the economics that make Starlink and other LEO satellites the most attractive option in remote areas.
Today's FWA
Today’s FWA is not yesteryear’s FWA. Huge blocks of spectrum that are fully utilized in the city are under-utilized in the suburbs. New spectrum is now available in both licensed and unlicensed formats. In fact, operators can use excess capacity on their mobile network without spending capital for new towers. Smaller regional operators use dedicated, purpose-built FWA for underserved areas. With significant public and private capital funding (e.g., BEAD and others) coming available to broadband operators, we see a bright future for fixed wireless access – which has been a clear “killer app” for 5G thus far.
Kyung Mun is a senior analyst at Mobile Experts LLC, a network of market and technology experts that provides market analysis on the mobile infrastructure and mobile handset markets.
Industry Voices and Op-Eds are from industry experts or analysts invited to contribute by Fierce staff. They do not represent the opinions of Fierce Network.