5G fixed wireless access (FWA) will rise nearly five-fold next year to reach $2.5 billion driven by strong growth in network expansion and to provide an alternative to traditional broadband services, according to new data from Juniper Research.
5G FWA is a high-speed internet broadband, or internet of things (IoT) connectivity, which connects through cellular-enabled customer premises equipment (CPE).
Juniper forecasts FWA revenue will reach $24 billion globally by 2027, up from $515 million this year. The consumer market will represent the largest growth opportunity, representing 96% of global 5G FWA revenue. 5G FWA units are expected to hit 13 million units next year.
Juniper said that FWA operators need to provide a compelling proposition for users to switch from fiber or cable including the bundling of services such as video streaming, gaming and smart home security to gain a competitive advantage over traditional broadband vendors.
“The benefits of FWA are now comparable with services using fiber-based networks,” said Elisha Sudlow-Poole, researcher at Juniper. “Operators have an immediate opportunity to generate revenue from broadband subscriptions directly to end users by providing last-mile solutions underpinned by their existing 5G infrastructure.”
Besides consumer opportunities, Juniper identified smart manufacturing, shipping ports and airports as key use cases for 5G FWA and recommends the technology be used for last mile-solutions.
