According to the Dell’Oro report, FWA has surged in recent years to support both residential and enterprise connectivity due to its ease of deployment
Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) revenues are projected to grow by 7% in 2024, driven by rising residential subscriptions in North America and India, along with increasing enterprise connectivity worldwide, according to a recent report by Dell’Oro Group.
This growth includes revenue from RAN equipment, residential CPE and enterprise router and gateway solutions.
The report also noted that spending on 4G and 5G-enabled residential CPE is expected to peak at $5.3 billion in 2025, and remain above $4 billion annually
According to the Dell’Oro report, FWA has surged in recent years to support both residential and enterprise connectivity due to its ease of deployment along with the more widespread availability of 4G LTE and 5G Sub-6GHz networks.
“Initially viewed as a way to monetize under-utilized spectrum, FWA has grown to become a major tool for connecting homes and businesses with broadband,” said Jeff Heynen, vice president at Dell’Oro Group. “What started in the U.S. is now expanding to India, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, as mobile operators continue to expand their 5G-based FWA offerings to both residential and enterprise customers,” Heynen added.
Additional findings from the “Fixed Wireless Access Infrastructure and CPE Advanced Research Report” include:
-FWA equipment revenue projections for 2023-2027 have been revised upward by 17%, reflecting steady subscriber growth in key markets such as North America and India.
-Emerging markets in Southeast Asia and the Middle East and Africa (MEA) are anticipated to drive future growth, fueled by upgrades to existing 3G and LTE networks and a demand for affordable connectivity solutions.
-Satellite broadband is expected to play a vital role in connecting underserved and rural areas. Growth in this sector is set to be led by Low Earth Orbit Satellite (LEOS) providers like Starlink, OneWeb, and Project Kuiper.
“2024 is so far not a great year from an Open RAN revenue perspective,” wrote Stephan Pongratz, Dell’Oro’s VP of RAN market research, in a blog post assessing the Open Radio Access Network market through the third quarter of this year.
The Open RAN market saw a “torrid pace” of growth as it got off the ground between 2019 through 2022, Pongratz pointed out. That was followed by a market decline of about half a billion dollars last year, amid an overall industry slow-down in network investments. The network market is still challenging, with Open RAN seeing an additional year-over-year decline of about 30% from the first quarter of this year through the third quarter, according to Dell’Oro’s tracking.
However, Pongratz added: “The long-term trajectory is positive, but the short-term picture remains blurry.” If 5G network activity picks up in the U.S. and Japan, or if other modernization plans get announced that leverage the latest Open RAN interfaces, that would provide more clarity on the direction of the Open RAN market in the short term.”
