While not as flashy as 5G applications like autonomous drones or precision robotics, fixed wireless access is proving to be a major new revenue driver for Tier 1 U.S. operators T-Mobile US and Verizon. Reporting its first quarter earnings today, Verizon–who was first to market with a mmWave 5G FWA home internet offering in 2018–said it added 194,000 FWA subscribers.
While Verizon’s first cut at home internet was a pre-standard mmWave version, those Q1 figures represent a standards-based mmWave product, a C-Band-based product, and LTE-backed home internet. FWA for both homes and businesses was called out by Verizon last month at an investors event as among key drivers of new 5G service revenue.
