Global 5G FWA subscriptions to exceed 58 million in 2026: ABI Research

The global demand for residential broadband is projected to remain high even after the Covid-19 pandemic recovery and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) will be the fastest-growing residential broadband segment, increasing at a CAGR of 71% to exceed 58 million subscribers in 2026, as per ABI Research

Amid the pandemic, the worldwide residential broadband market reached a subscribers base of over 1.1 billion in 2020, growing 4% over the previous year, it said.

A number of factors including remote working, online learning, e-commerce, and virtual healthcare drove high-speed demand throughout 2020 while an increase in the use of home entertainment such as video streaming and online gaming also pushed existing broadband users to upgrade to a higher-tier package. Households without broadband internet access signed up for new subscriptions, it said.

Khin Sandi Lynn, Industry Analyst at ABI Research said internet-connected devices, smart TVs, and smart home devices, along with online media consumption will continue to drive broadband adoption in the coming years.

::…many businesses are allowing remote working for some of their employees after the pandemic, which will boost the need for home broadband services even further,” Lynn added.

ABI Research said the ongoing 5G network deployment alongside 5G mmWave solutions will allow service providers to provide 5G FWA in urban and rural areas.

5G FWA services are expected to represent 4% of residential broadband services in 2026, growing from less than 1% in 2020, it said.

As residential broadband penetration saturates mature markets, competition among broadband operators is likely to create challenges to maintain market shares.

“Providing advanced home networking devices, internet security, and home network self-diagnosis tools can help service providers reduce churn and improve average revenue per user,” Lynn said.