Written by Mary Lennighan
The market for fixed wireless CPE is on the up, driven by growth in 5G devices, according to new figures released this week.
The data, shared by the GSA, shows strong growth, albeit from a relatively low base, given the size of the global telecoms industry. But nonetheless, the figures serve to back up some of the recent hype over FWA we have seen from the operator community, particularly on the other side of the Atlantic.
5G FWA customer premises equipment shipments more than doubled to 7.4 million last year and should reach 13.8 million – that’s 86% growth – this year, the GSA revealed, citing the results of its annual FWA CPE vendor survey. The industry body urges caution in making comparisons with its previous surveys, given that the respondents and sample size are not always the same, but points out that the 27 companies surveyed this year account for “a significant representation of the market for 3GPP-based 4G and 5G FWA devices.” 5G devices will make up 40% of all shipments this year, the GSA predicts, up from 29% in 2022.
Within the 5G category, mmWave-capable devices play a small but rapidly-growing role. The GSA forecasts that mmWave device shipments will grow by more than 70% this year to close to 800,000 units, having more than doubled in 2022 to 450,000.
