Page 8 - SAMENA ELITE - October-December2025

ARTICLE
8 OCT-DEC 2025

OBSERVATIONS BY SAMENA COUNCIL

FWA as a Core Component

of Broadband Growth in

2026

Fixed Wireless Access is entering broadband segments. Throughout and expanding 5G infrastructure to
2026 as one of the most significant the year, operators began treating extend broadband to urban, semi-
developments in global broadband. FWA as a core part of their product urban, and underserved areas.
What had long been viewed as portfolios, and this is evident from These efforts are further supported
an option for areas where fiber the meetings of the ELITE FWA Club, by evolving regulatory frameworks
was difficult or expensive is now organized by the SAMENA Council and government initiatives aimed
emerging as a mainstream form of throughout the year in collaboration at accelerating digital inclusion. The
connectivity for homes, businesses, with Huawei and other members. parallels between mature markets
and connected devices. The Record subscriber additions in the including the U.S. and the growing
momentum that gathered through United States, for example, reflected SA-ME-NA regional ecosystem
2025, supported by broader 5G this shift, while emerging markets illustrate how targeted spectrum
coverage, rising CPE shipments, and relied on FWA to support national planning, network densification, and
stronger performance indicators, connectivity and inclusion efforts. By policy support can combine to make
has set the stage for a year in which late 2025, nearly half of all active 5G FWA a primary broadband solution,
FWA grows in scale, becomes more networks worldwide had incorporated capable of delivering reliable, high-
differentiated, and takes on a larger FWA in some form, a clear signal that speed connectivity to a broad range
role in national digital strategies. the technology had moved firmly into of users.
the mainstream.
By the middle of 2025, major market Similar improvements were reported
studies were already identifying Updated market indicators in the in several other regions. These
FWA as a central tool for turning 5G final quarter of 2025 reinforced the enhancements produced noticeable
investment into revenue, rather than momentum behind FWA globally. gains in consumer speeds,
a temporary or experimental offering. In the United States, for example, confirming that mid band 5G had
Operators in the United States, licensed FWA coverage expanded become the primary source of wide
India, Europe, and parts of Asia were by more than one hundred percent area FWA performance. At the same
increasingly positioning FWA as a since the first national mapping time, there was renewed interest
way to provide useful broadband in exercise, driven by sustained in higher frequency deployments
areas where fiber rollouts were slow mid-band spectrum allocations in dense urban environments and
or cost prohibitive. Forecasts from and the densification of 5G sites. specialized locations, with some
multiple analysis groups pointed to A similar trajectory has started operators beginning to combine mid
steady double-digit growth through to emerge across the SA-M-ENA band and higher band solutions in
the decade, with 5G FWA becoming region, where operators are actively order to match local needs more
one of the fastest expanding deploying mid-band spectrum precisely.

SAMENA ELITE