2022 State of Fixed Wireless Access

Insights about the current state of fixed wireless access (FWA) and T-Mobile’s more than two million broadband customers.  In the third quarter of 2022, T-Mobile welcomed its two millionth internet customer, doubling its total number of customers in just six months, making T-Mobile the fastest-growing internet provider for the last four quarters in a row. FWA is growing by more than 70% across all providers since Q1 of this year. Over the last year, the broadband industry’s growth has come almost entirely from fixed wireless. And that shift is expected to continue. T-Mobile and Verizon are expected to have 11 to 13 million total FWA customers by the end of 2025. A variety of factors are fueling FWA’s growth including decades of customer dissatisfaction with traditional broadband providers– traditional providers still rank dead last in customer satisfaction among all industries – and a historic lack of choice and competition in vast portions of the country. In Q3 alone, fixed wireless added 920K new subscribers, while top cable companies added roughly 40K subscribers. Among the many reasons for switching to 5G Internet, T-Mobile customers list a lower price and no annual contract as leading factors. Of those who switched, 51% came from cable providers. Additionally, more than a third of customers also listed having a new option as a reason for switching.