Competing Against FWA

At the end of the first quarter of 2024, T-Mobile and Verizon together have accumulated 8.6 million customers nationwide on fixed wireless access (FWA) cellular home broadband. This is amazing success for a product that was just launched in 2021. The combined FWA customers represent 7 percent of the entire U.S. broadband market. Nobody knows exactly where the companies are finding the new customers because they aren’t telling, and the companies losing customers are mum about it. The appeal of FWA is obvious. The companies offer broadband between 100 Mbps and 300 Mbps in most markets with prices from $50 to $70. FWA has been especially successful by targeting customers in rural areas and charging less than cable companies. Perhaps that's why some industry executives are calling the impact of FWA "temporary." Either way, internet service providers have to decide which is worse—losing customers or lowering prices.