Global Household Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) Subscribers to Cross Half a Billion Mark by 2030

5G FWA will account for almost 90% of FWA connections by 2030

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Aug 07, 2020, 09:00 ET

SAN DIEGO, BUENOS AIRES, and LONDON, Aug. 7, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Fixed wireless access (FWA) is emerging as one of the leading use cases for 5G New Radio (NR) architecture, rapidly gaining momentum as a scalable alternative to fixed broadband, according to the latest research from Counterpoint Research's Emerging Technology Opportunities (ETO) Practice. The research predicts that FWA (4G+5G) subscriptions will rise from a 4% share of the consumer broadband market today to account for nearly a third of the household broadband market and cross half a billion subscriptions by 2030.

5G Consumer Household FWA Subscribers by Region

Less than half of households globally have access to fixed broadband and there is a lot of pent-up demand for fixed broadband at home. Counterpoint estimates that 45.1% of households worldwide had dedicated broadband access by the end of 2019. If we exclude China and the US, this penetration drops to 28%, indicating a lot of room for growth.

Commenting on this emerging trend, Senior Analyst Tina Lu notes: "A lot of the pent-up demand for broadband comes from the 'Next Billion' segment, which comprises large parts of the population across both developed and emerging markets that are still not connected to the internet. Further, COVID-19 has accelerated the need for consumers to acquire fast and stable broadband access beyond smartphones. The existing broadband users also need to upgrade to faster networks. The fiber and other fixed wired broadband connectivity remain elusive for many of these consumers. Hence, the increased availability of FWA will enable the Communication Service Providers to offer broadband services over the 5G NR spectrum and network architecture to different corners of the world."

Lu adds: "Global consumer 5G FWA will reach more than 50 million connections in 2025 and increase to more than 450 million in 2030. North America and Asia are leading the 5G FWA subscription base in 2020, representing more than 75% of total connections. However, by 2030, Europe will have the largest 5G FWA installed base."

Detailed analysis on FWA momentum, adoption, opportunities, ecosystem growth and outlook is available for licensing here.

SOURCE Counterpoint Research