Fixed Wireless Could Add 10 Million Subscribers by 2027

Fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband could add more than 10 million subscribers in the next five years, driven by programs geared toward rural markets, according to Wells Fargo telecom and media analysts Eric Luebchow and Steven Cahall. The analysts predict that total broadband subscriber additions will accelerate to 4.5-to-5 million annually in 2023 and 2024, fueled mainly by FWA and fiber overbuilds. Over the next five years, Luebchow and Cahall predict FWA will rise from 7.1 million total subscribers at the end of 2021 to 17.6 million in 2027. That growth will come at the expense of cable operators, who the analysts predict will watch their market share erode quickly over the next few years. While fixed wireless has been around for awhile, Luebchow and Cahall expect competition to heat up significantly in the next three years as federally funded programs spur both wireless and fiber build outs for broadband. They estimate that FWA would capture 60 percent of net additions through 2024, then momentum shifts to fiber overbuilders as new inventory comes on the market.