Fixed wireless has long been seen as broadband’s last resort, but is that changing?

In this in-depth Panel Report from Metro Connect, senior leaders from Verizon, T-Mobile, Fujitsu, and Skywire Networks explore whether fixed wireless access is evolving into a scalable, strategic broadband offering — and what that means for network design, enterprise adoption, and satellite convergence.

Maria Browne, partner – Davis Wright Tremaine LLP (moderator)
Femi Adeyemi, head of wireless business – Fujitsu Network Communications
Laura Thomas, CEO – Skywire Networks
Allan Samson, SVP and chief broadband officer – T-Mobile
Terrance Robinson, senior managing director for product commercialisation – Verizon Partner Solutions

Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) used to be viewed as a fallback option for connectivity, but experts at Metro Connect believe it has shed its legacy as a “last resort” solution and transformed into a competitive, reliable, and scalable broadband option.

Terrance Robinson, senior managing director for product commercialisation at Verizon Partner Solutions, revealed that the company had 4.2 million FWA subscribers by 2024 — nearly half of them business users, a segment they hadn’t expected to grow so quickly.

“About 1.8 million, almost half of those subscribers, are coming from the business side, which is really surprising for us,” Robinson said. “We knew this was going to be something that was going to be successful from a consumer standpoint, but not so much the growth that we're seeing at the pace that we're seeing as it relates to B2B.”

Even more telling: 70% of these subscribers are using it as their primary connection, based on data usage, with Robinson adding that the company has changed its guidance to expect eight to nine million FWA subscribers through 2028.

Allan Samson, SVP and chief broadband officer at T-Mobile, noted their FWA customer base had grown to 6.7 million, with strong net promoter scores (NPS) — “high 50s, 60s and 70s” — comparable to top fibre providers.

He framed the old criticisms of FWA, such as latency and signal reliability, as largely perception-based: “From the first 500,000 to now, NPS has been consistently high… We’re finding it’s a very good product.”

Laura Thomas, the CEO of Skywire Networks, added that dedicated FWA networks like theirs, which aren’t shared, allow them to deliver up to 10 Gbps to both residential and business users — further expanding the use case range.

FWA’s technological evolution is helping it serve not just as a fibre alternative but as a long-term infrastructure asset.

Femi Adeyemi, head of wireless business at Fujitsu Network Communications, highlighted that earlier FWA systems struggled with interference and lacked redundancy, something that’s no longer the case.

“It used to be that once I connect, interference shows up, I lose my connectivity. The rate goes down. But now we have secondary access for UX as well, so it's more reliable, the use cases are now different, and the technology is now available to be able to give you what you need.

The evolution of 5G networks has played a key role, too, with Adeyemi saying the standard has the necessary bandwidth to be able to support fixed wireless access.

Beyond the technology itself, use cases have rapidly diversified. Fixed wireless was once synonymous with rural connectivity, but the panellists noted it’s now being deployed as a primary broadband option in both urban and enterprise environments — including in locations where fibre has already been deployed as a means of extending network reach.

Skywire’s Thomas, underlined the flexibility of fixed wireless solutions, saying: “We turned up a new hub recently, and we had a day event that somebody wanted to come in, and we came in within a day, put our infrastructure up, provided the internet service to them, and took it down two days later.”

While short-term deployments are increasingly common, Thomas emphasised that Skywire’s primary business lies in dedicated, recurring lines, often offering 10 Gbps over fixed wireless infrastructure.

Verizon’s Robinson echoed the shift from fixed wireless as a “just good enough” fallback to a platform capable of meeting high-performance business requirements.

“Historically, it's always been consumption based from a commercial standpoint, but now it is just, it's performance based,” he said.

This pivot, he said, is enabling new business applications such as SD-WAN, where even “mission critical” deployments are viable thanks to improved network characteristics.

“You think about things like SD WAN, especially with the performance of the networks to 100 plus megabits on the low end… very suitable for those type of implementations.”

FWA is also becoming a core tool for rapid service deployment and gap-filling. T-Mobile’s Samson noted the role it plays in accelerating network availability, particularly as a stopgap during fibre rollout or as a solution for customers stuck with underperforming DSL.

“In terms of absolute, we're seeing great sales momentum against all three,” he said, referring to rural, suburban, and urban markets alike.

As FWA grows, operators are becoming more strategic in how they manage network resources and scale infrastructure. For some, this involves intelligent use of existing spectrum and AI-driven capacity planning; for others, it means leveraging dedicated assets or hybrid models to stay agile.

Alan Samson of T-Mobile detailed the operator’s granular, data-led approach to managing demand and ensuring network performance.

“We study mobility needs over the next 10 years, not only growth of the number of mobile subscribers, but the demand each subscriber puts on the network. And then we've got it down to a very small little chunk, and you look at that and say, ‘Okay, with this demand curve, this much capacity would be left over to supply a high quality, unlimited product to a consumer or a business.’”

He credited this modelling capability — and its application of AI — with enabling T-Mobile to expand fixed wireless availability without compromising service quality for mobile users.

“The AI models that we're training on that are starting to say, rather than coverage here, or do a radio augment there. It’s very precise where the pain is felt. And the model is also very precise to say, does the money you spend relieve that pain.

This strategic visibility is central to the operator’s confidence in scaling fixed wireless and is part of the reason T-Mobile raised its subscriber guidance, with Samson adding: “We could just, you know, more with a scalpel, fix that network and open up more opportunity.”

Verizon’s Robinson added that balancing spectrum deployment against geographic realities is a key consideration.

“We have found that about 40% of the geography covers about two-thirds of the US population.”

With that in mind, Verizon focused on densifying strategically and exploring partnerships with utilities for vertical infrastructure access — especially in locations like large venues or multi-dwelling units.

He also highlighted the operator’s differentiated approach: “Our focus now, more so than ever, is making sure that the end customers are getting the optimal experience. When we tell them, this is the advertised speed that you're going to receive in latency, we want to make sure that that's going to be that end user's experience, even regardless of its best effort.”

From a technology supplier’s perspective, Fujitsu’s Adeyemi pointed out that infrastructure utilisation is as much about efficient bandwidth allocation as it is about physical deployment.

“We've seen being able to use the higher level spectrum from millimetre wave to coming down to using your existing wireless network, where you can dedicate bandwidth for fixed wireless access or use network slicing.”

The key, he said, is optimising what’s already in place: “It's actually how you use your infrastructure that you have that is important.”

Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite networks are increasingly viewed not as direct competitors to FWA but as complementary tools that can fill critical connectivity gaps.

Verizon’s Robinson described the relationship as one of “co-opetition,” acknowledging improvements in satellite performance, cost, and installation. However, he maintained a clear distinction in service quality.

“Presently, we don't really view them as being a significant competitor… fixed wireless access [is] a far superior solution. When you think about performance, you think about ease of installation, flexibility.”

Robinson also pointed to convergence opportunities, where satellite and FWA can coexist as part of hybrid connectivity models. “We already do some of that work today… where you could leverage wireless from a backup perspective, or in some instances, even almost a little bit of SD Wan.”

T-Mobile’s Samson offered insight into the company’s active partnership with Starlink, which includes T-Mobile’s radios integrated into Starlink’s satellite infrastructure.

“T Mobile has a deep relationship with Starlink. At this point, we've got 460 plus satellites with our 2.5 gigahertz radios in there. I think we'll end somewhere around 700.”

He praised Starlink’s capabilities but noted its limitations: “Their product is amazing. It has capacity constraints. I think they'll get to somewhere around four or five million customers in America… We don’t see in the near term horizon, two, four or five years, it being a significant share taker, but a great utility.”

Samson shared a revealing anecdote that underlines the complementary nature of both technologies: “We've called Starlink and said, Hey, we've got 1.3 million people on a waiting list for fixed wireless. Could you take any of this? And they've called us and said, we have x numbers of customers on a waiting list for Starlink. Could you take [them]?”

Skywire’s Thomas put it simply: “It fills that gap.” Particularly in mountainous or remote areas with no fibre or wireless coverage, LEO systems offer a necessary stopgap.

Fujitsu’s Adeyemi framed LEO as just another vital tool in the broadband toolbox — particularly in geographies where traditional infrastructure is unworkable.

“We were approached a number of years ago about how do we understand the climate changes in the desert? And the desert is very far vast… You don't have the infrastructure to actually do that. LEO and other satellite links will be able to give you that.”