5G-enabled Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) broadband subscriptions are forecast to cross 462 million by 2030 as compared with nearly 75 million in 2021.
5G FWA will drive the bulk of the growth beyond 2025, replacing 4G FWA connections that will be still prevalent in some markets across Middle East and Africa (MEA), developing Asia and Latin America until 2024, according to Counterpoint Research.
FWA is a cellular wireless option for broadband connectivity to stationary equipment that provides Internet access.
“By the end of 2021, only one out of every three households around the world (excluding China) had access to fixed broadband. And only 25 percent of those households enjoyed speeds greater than 100 Mbps,” said Counterpoint Research Principal Analyst Tina Lu.
There is a significant push from operators and governments to prioritize national broadband initiatives with 5G FWA becoming integral to their 5G rollout strategies.
The United States is currently the single biggest 5G FWA market, with both Verizon and T-Mobile being bullish on 5G FWA with mmWave rollouts ideal for dense urban connectivity, and sub-6GHz spectrum driving broader coverage and above average throughput speeds.
Broadband operators believe that the cost of last-mile connection to fiber in rural areas opens the need for investment in 5G FWA.
Africa, India, and other South Asian countries (excluding China) have the lowest fiber penetration and have the most potential to drive the 5G FWA subscriber growth this decade.
