Fixed wireless access: Gaining ground on wired broadband

A confluence of factors is driving FWA growth

Many operators have deployed FWA selectively for decades to offer customers internet service, typically in underserved areas where wired internet connections are unavailable. But to date, FWA has not achieved widespread operator adoption outside of a few countries such as Austria or Finland. However, with more governments providing broadband funding and more regulators viewing wireless as an acceptable alternative to wireline connections, more operators are considering FWA, especially the enhanced 5G version, for delivering broadband internet services.

5G should further accelerate FWA’s expected growth. Coupled with greater spectrum availability, 5G’s deeper network infrastructure and greater spectral efficiency significantly improve the economics and technical feasibility of FWA deployments and can thus support new deployment and revenue opportunities. These traits make it far more achievable for operators to implement FWA in underserved markets, as well as more attractive to offer it in competitive markets as a replacement or alternative to existing wired internet connections (such as xDSL or cable).

FWA’s most important impact may be to help narrow the digital divide by improving internet availability in underserved markets. It can be challenging to justify broadband investments in sparsely populated areas with few paying subscribers or inaccessible terrains such as mountains or islands, or even in cities where local ordinances and permitting make it challenging and expensive to connect to customer premises. FWA can provide an economical solution.³ Being wireless, it can reduce the massive upfront cost and time needed to secure permissions, dig trenches, lay last-mile fiber, and deploy technician-installed equipment at households and businesses. Moreover, operators can often roll out FWA using their existing mobile wireless networks and fiber backhaul infrastructure, further reducing costs. These factors have opened up markets for broadband services in places where it was previously unavailable, as we have seen in the Philippines, South Africa, Sri Lanka, and Turkey.

Recognizing high-speed internet’s importance to economic development,⁴ many governments across the globe are implementing sizable programs to fund or subsidize building broadband networks in underserved areas. Although these programs typically favor wired solutions, they are increasingly technology-agnostic as long as the service can meet minimum performance thresholds. In the United States, for example, the FCC’s Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) awarded US$9 billion to a broad range of wired, fixed wireless, and satellite providers.⁵ The United Kingdom’s £1.2 billion Project Gigabit, which aims to equip at least 85% of UK premises with gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, is being lobbied to consider wireless options.⁶ And the European Union is studying FWA as a means to achieve national broadband goals.⁷

In addition to addressing households with no broadband access, network operators are also increasingly viewing FWA as a competitive alternative to existing wired internet services, especially DSL, which in some markets is no longer considered “broadband.”⁸ Operators in the United States, Italy, and Switzerland have explicit plans to use 5G FWA along with fiber to upgrade and replace existing DSL connections, which reduces costs by decommissioning legacy copper networks.⁹

With regard to FWA’s 5G version specifically, many network operators worldwide view 5G FWA as a way to expand revenue opportunities and help monetize investments in 5G and wireless spectrum. For many, FWA is emerging as one of the leading use cases for 5G. Almost 90% of providers that have launched 5G also have an FWA offering, compared to 62% among those that haven’t yet launched 5G.¹⁰ Countries with operators early out of the gate include Australia, Austria, Canada, Finland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and we expect the list to expand.¹¹

Operators have multiple deployment options depending on their service area demographics, spectrum availability, and technology portfolios. For example, in dense city locations, 5G FWA can be used to augment existing fixed or mobile phone networks to offer pop-up wide area networks (such as for small or medium businesses’ networks, live events, or construction sites); it also can enhance redundancy and surge capacity. As the pandemic has shown, using wireless connections as a gap filler and backup for fiber to provide uninterrupted internet access is growing in importance. FWA can also be offered more broadly as a competitive alternative to existing home internet, such as in a suburban area with no or few other options. In most cases, operators will selectively roll out 5G FWA in those areas where they have suitable spectrum, excess wireless network capacity, and adequate supporting infrastructure, but also where fixed wireline is otherwise uneconomical or slow to deploy.