Page 9 - SAMENA ELITE - October-December2025

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Policy Recommendations
• Regulatory frameworks need to support both investment and consumer confidence. A practical way to
do this is to maintain a technology-neutral approach that recognizes FWA as a credible complement to
fiber, especially in areas where fixed infrastructure is difficult or costly to deploy. Keeping the regulatory
environment flexible allows operators to select the most effective combination of technologies for each
locality.
• Spectrum availability will continue to influence the quality and reach of FWA services. Timely access to mid-
band spectrum (1GHz to 6GHz, with specific use from 2.5GHz to 4GHz), along with clear guidance on higher
band use in urban or high-capacity areas, will help operators sustain performance and meet rising demand.
Policymakers may also wish to explore approaches using regulatory sandboxes to help encourage efficient
spectrum use, including shared or lightly licensed models where appropriate, so that coverage can expand
without unnecessary barriers.
• Support for hybrid deployment models that combine fiber and FWA can also help ensure that communities
receive service quickly while longer term infrastructure plans continue to evolve.
• Providing guidance on how providers should communicate typical speeds, minimum speeds, and factors
that may affect service can improve transparency and help consumers make informed choices. Independent
verification or regular reporting mechanisms can further strengthen public confidence.
• In parts of the SA-ME-NA and Central Asia regions, where coverage gaps continue to persist, FWA should be
considered within universal service and subsidy programs. Its ability to reach difficult locations at lower cost
makes it a practical option for connecting underserved communities. Aligning funding programs with realistic
deployment models, and ensuring coordination between operators, regulators, and development agencies,
can help accelerate progress toward broader national connectivity goals.
• National broadband strategies may need to formally recognize FWA as part of the long-term connectivity
roadmap. Different connectivity solutions need to work together to support economic development, digital
inclusion, and service resilience.
• FWA can support national objectives without limiting innovation or investment. By encouraging balanced
policies that account for both near-term needs and long-term infrastructure goals, governments can help

The equipment market also through the early 2030s, reaching on timely data. Many organizations
evolved quickly throughout 2025. values far higher than those recorded will find value in the ability to deploy
Global shipments of FWA CPE rose in 2025. The number of connections is connectivity quickly, without the com-
significantly, with more than half of all also expected to rise sharply, with 5G plexity of trenching or waiting for fiber
units shipped supporting 5G. Vendors replacing many older wireless options availability. As equipment becomes
introduced devices that were easier and becoming the baseline tech- smarter and more adaptable, these
to install, smaller in size, more energy nology for most new deployments. deployments can support a wider
efficient, and stronger in indoor In more advanced 5G markets, the range of applications, from moni-
coverage. Improvements in antenna focus will likely shift toward enhanc- toring and automation to customer
systems, local processing features, ing capacity, refining speed tiers, and services and field operations.
security, and home networking improving overall service quality so
support helped turn CPE into more that FWA competes not just on peak FWA is no longer just filling gaps in
capable connectivity hubs. There performance but also on reliabil- fiber coverage. In fact, it is becoming
was also growing discussion around ity and consistency. In developing a core part of how operators plan
lighter cost devices for simpler or markets, falling equipment prices and their networks, how regulators design
large-scale deployments, creating improving mid band coverage will broadband strategies, and how
a path for industries and smaller make FWA an increasingly practical industries adopt digital tools. With
operations that require connectivity way to extend broadband to under- continued improvements in network
without long installation timelines. served communities. capacity, more capable devices, and
more collaborative planning across
As 2026 begins, nearly all market For industries, this period marks the the ecosystem, FWA is positioned to
projections point to continued strong beginning of broader adoption of play a central role in meeting the
growth. Both the general FWA market FWA as a practical tool for connecting connectivity needs of households,
and the dedicated 5G FWA segment branch locations, remote industrial enterprises, and national programs in
are expected to expand quickly sites, and operations that depend the years ahead.

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