Can India's 5G FWA surge address broadband infrastructure gap?Can India's 5G FWA surge address broadband infrastructure gap?

India's limited fixed broadband infrastructure and rapidly increasing demand for connectivity are driving the country's 5G FWA market.

Gagandeep Kaur, Contributing Editor

January 24, 2025

3 Min Read
A 5G cell tower stands on a high-rise building in Dusseldorf Germany
(Source: dpa picture alliance/Alamy Stock Photo)

India seems to be on the cusp of major growth in the 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) segment. Lack of fixed broadband infrastructure coupled with booming demand for connectivity are likely to fuel this market.

The number of 5G FWA subscribers in India was expected to hit 5 million by the end of last year and grow to 30 million by 2027, according to Counterpoint Research. Interestingly, the country added over 2 million 5G FWA subscribers in the first half of 2024, which was more than all other fixed broadband technologies managed to attract.

Indian service providers Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel launched 5G FWA services under the brand names JioAirFiber and XStream AirFiber, respectively, in the second half of 2023.

"The market in India is rapidly accelerating, with 5G FWA connections reaching nearly 3 million in just over a year since launch," says the Ericsson Mobility Report released in November 2024.

Jio claimed to have 2.8 million 5G FWA subscribers by the end of September 2024. After adding 1 million JioAirFiber subscribers in the first 100 days, Jio is targeting to add a million homes every 30 days, as Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, the parent company of Reliance Jio, said in his Annual General Meeting (AGM) speech last year.

"With this momentum, we are confident of reaching our target of 100 million home broadband customers at record speed. We are also targeting over 20 million small and medium businesses, bringing them the connectivity to thrive in today's digital age," said Ambani.

In addition, India's third-largest service provider, Vodafone Idea, and government-owned BSNL are also set to launch 5G services this year and will likely launch FWA services as well. This may further bring down the rates and expand the market.

Lack of fiber broadband infrastructure

One of the key reasons for this growth in FWA is the lack of fiber-based wired broadband in the country. At the end of November 2024, India had only 40.97 million fixed broadband subscribers, up from 37.79 million in November 2023. India is a mobile-first country, with over 55% of the population connected to the Internet through mobile broadband. Only 11% of Indian households have a fixed broadband connection.

There has been a significant growth in data consumption, and there is a latent demand for high-speed but affordable fixed broadband. 5G FWA can potentially address this gap. What further helps is the cost-effectiveness of 5G FWA compared to the high expenditure required for laying fiber. In addition, both Jio and Airtel have already set up a pan-India 5G network.

In the future, as 5G FWA subscribers increase, mobile traffic is likely to shift to FWA. The Ericsson report anticipates that FWA uptake in regions where fixed broadband connections are limited, "household-based traffic will move from smartphones to FWA – especially for streaming services."

5G FWA can also play a crucial role in bringing down the digital divide in the country. "With more than 350 million households in India, fiber alone cannot reduce the digital divide in India, it will require a complementary technology that can provide adequate speed and capacity to cater to the masses. Therefore, 5G FWA can help bridge the gaps and is expected to double its number of subscribers by 2025 compared to the end of 2024," says the Counterpoint Research blog.

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About the Author

Gagandeep Kaur

Contributing Editor

With more than a decade of experience, Gagandeep Kaur Sodhi has worked for the most prominent Indian communications industry publications including Dataquest, Business Standard, The Times of India, and Voice&Data, as well as for Light Reading. Delhi-based Kaur, who has knowledge of and covers a broad range of telecom industry developments, regularly interacts with the senior management of companies in India's telecom sector and has been directly responsible for delegate and speaker acquisition for prominent events such as Mobile Broadband Summit, 4G World India, and Next Generation Packet Transport Network.

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