T-Mobile’s fixed wireless access net additions of 578,000 hit another record high in the third quarter, more than AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Charter combined. Coming in second, Verizon saw its best-ever 342,000 net adds in fixed wireless in the third quarter, up from 256,000 in 2Q. Internationally, 5G FWA subscriptions are projected to reach 58 million by 2026, according to ABI Research’s 5G FWA application analysis report.
In the short term, 5G FWA will progress without capacity constraints, but how much it grows in the long term depends on network capacity, spectrum, and resource optimization, according to ABI Research. 5G deployment is essential for the carriers to provide FWA with high speeds and more capacity, making it competitive with wired broadband solutions.
“An FWA user can consume 40X more network resources than a mobile user. Therefore, MNOs need to conduct a proper market assessment and detailed plan to understand the required capacity in their targeted markets and how many FWA subscribers they can truly support,” Fei Liu, 5G & Mobile Network Infrastructure Industry Analyst at ABI Research said.
Strategies to offer 5G FWA include last-mile connectivity, for business, bridging the digital divide, and as a backup for fixed broadband.
“MNOs considering FWA as a long-term solution should use Artificial Intelligence techniques such as Machine Learning to generate in-depth analysis on the network quality and user experience, based on traffic growth, service and network Key Performance Indicators to help improve network resource utilization,” Liu said.
Reader Interactions