T-Mobile Fixed Wireless is Overperforming in Rural Markets

One-third of T-Mobile fixed wireless access (FWA) subscribers are in rural areas, according to an estimate from telecom financial analysts at MoffettNathanson. It’s a surprising finding, considering that the analysts estimate that only 6 percent of locations that can get T-Mobile fixed wireless are in rural areas. Forty-four percent of T-Mobile fixed wireless subscribers are in urban census blocks, which represent 74 percent of locations that can get T-Mobile fixed wireless, according to the estimates. And suburbia comprises the remaining 23 percent of subscribers and 20 percent of passing. MoffettNathanson based its estimates on data from Comlinkdata, a provider of granular telecom network data. It’s an important analysis considering that T-Mobile and Verizon together gained 719,000 FWA subscribers in 2021 and stakeholders want to know where the subscribers are coming from. The analysts looked at Verizon’s FWA availability and subscribership, as well as T-Mobile’s, but declined to draw any conclusions about Verizon because until recently, Verizon had FWA available only in the millimeter-wave band, which has been deployed primarily in urban areas.