Fixed wireless access comes with very important opportunities

Fixed wireless access comes with very important opportunities

5G networks, which continue to be widespread all over the world, enable the realization of new usage scenarios thanks to the high performance and capacity they provide. One of the most important of these usage scenarios is fixed wireless access (FWA). Nearly half (approximately 1 billion) of households around the world do not have fixed broadband connections. Considering the conversion to 5G with the current speed and capacity provided by cellular networks with LTE, operators have the opportunity to offer broadband services at affordable costs to small and medium-sized businesses as well as homes.

According to Ericsson's Mobility Report, fixed wireless access connections are estimated to grow threefold by the end of 2025, reaching 160 million and constituting 25 percent of the total mobile network data traffic worldwide.

Fixed wireless access in the context of broadband

There are approximately 2 billion households worldwide. At the end of 2019, approximately 60 percent (about 1.2 billion) of these households had a fixed broadband connection. This rate is expected to be about 70 percent in 2025. In this context, fixed wireless access represents 10 percent of fixed broadband connections. On the other hand, it is important to underline that fixed wireless access is an option that can replace nearly 300 million existing DSL connections.

In terms of the number of fixed wireless connections, more than one person uses the same connection in many houses. However, the situation is different in mobile broadband. There are many more connections than the number of people. Nearly 160 million fixed wireless access connections expected to be reached by the end of 2025 actually represent approximately 570 million people.

There are three important reasons for the growth of the fixed wireless access market and the increase in the number of connections:

1. The increasing demand of consumers and companies for digital services also increases the need for broadband connection.

2. Fixed wireless access over 4G or 5G is increasingly becoming the most cost-effective alternative to providing broadband service to regions where connection types such as DSL, cable or fiber have limited use.

Thanks to technological advances in the 4G and 5G networks and wider frequency spectrum allocations, increased capacity provides much higher network efficiency in terms of cost per gigabyte.

3. Broadband connections support broadband connections through various programs and subsidies, as they are vital to digitization efforts and economic growth.

Looking Ahead

Due to COVID-19, there has never been a demand for home wireless broadband connections. A recent study of mobile service provider offers has shown that 185 of 309 providers are fixed wireless access offers. Compared to 2018, it is seen that the figure has doubled.

It is estimated that there are approximately 51 million fixed wireless network connections by the end of 2019. This figure is expected to triple by 2025 to reach 160 million. Fixed wireless access data traffic is estimated to represent approximately 15 percent of global mobile network data traffic at the end of 2019. Fixed wireless access data traffic is expected to increase by 8 times and reach 53 exabytes in 2025 and constitute 25 percent of mobile network data traffic worldwide.

With improved mobile broadband and 5G switching performance and capacity gains, fixed wireless access will provide communication service providers with opportunities in many areas. Experience before fixed wireless access and fixed broadband has shown that the "unlimited" traffic paradigm does not cause unlimited demand and network congestion, but can be managed with a combination of performance-based service offerings and average consumption patterns.

Chafic Traboulsi, Vice President of the Regional Network for Ericsson Networks, Middle East and Africa, said:

'' Service providers can start capacity increase in a more precise way by following "use, add and intensify" procedures. First, all existing network assets need to be fully utilized, including base stations, spare capacity in the spectrum, and related radio, baseband, and transmission equipment. Afterwards, frequency spectrum and wireless networking capabilities such as high level modulation, advanced antenna systems, beam shaping, increased partitioning and 5G NR access should be added. Finally, if necessary, condensing should be done by adding macro and small cells. Another important point to note is that the results obtained will be different for each service provider. This means that it is not possible to use a reproducible template to define features that will make fixed wireless access more attractive in a particular market. ''

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