5G FWA technology to surpass 5M subscribers by 2024 end

5G FWA technology in India will surpass 5 million subscribers by the end of 2024, according to Counterpoint Research’s latest Global FWA & CPE Forecast by Technology and Regions (2019-2030) Report. As of September 2024, Jio’s Airfiber services had added more than 2.8 million subscribers in India.

Jio and Airtel began offering FWA services in India in Q4 2023. While Jio opted for an outdoor-indoor CPE-router setup, Airtel offered an Indoor CPE solution. In India, close to 11% households have a fixed broadband connection while more than 55% of the population are connected to the internet through mobile broadband.

Jio has covered 98% of districts in the country and plans to add more capacity in densely populated regions. It has been pushing to bring Jio Airfiber services mostly in the outskirts of urban areas, sub-urban and rural areas, where Jio Fiber services are limited. The deployment of FWA services by Jio is unique as it is using one outdoor unit to provide FWA services to a maximum of six subscribers, reducing the upfront cost of CPE/user significantly. This has given Jio liberty to price its plans similar to its fiber offerings thereby eliminating price as a barrier to adoption for consumers.

Fiber services are rolling out at a slower pace and are expected to remain behind 5G FWA in terms of net additions for 2024 and 2025. And, 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. Counterpoint Research