This Ericsson ConsumerLab study explores the current stage of home broadband internet and delves into the status of Fixed Wireless Access connectivity for households with both 4G and 5G. It examines consumer connectivity needs, satisfaction with existing broadband solutions and future demands and potential, as well as perceptions and views on FWA to fulfill these requirements. Unless specified, when FWA is mentioned in the study it refers to both 4G and 5G FWA households.
Spanning 19 countries, this research is unique in its scale, diversity and comprehensive approach to understanding households’ internet connectivity. It focuses on how various stages of home broadband internet development across different markets influence consumer choices and perceptions, emphasizing the importance of diversity and variety of needs across and within each of these markets. The FWA opportunity is analyzed within the unique home broadband internet context in each market.
5G Fixed Wireless Access is a growing solution for home broadband connectivity, and the markets analyzed in this research cover three Fixed Wireless Access adoption stages. The first comprises of countries with minimal or no 5G Fixed Wireless Access (India, Nigeria, Indonesia, Brazil, Thailand, Mexico, Malaysia and Turkey). In the next stage are countries with best effort1 5G FWA (Canada, Germany, Japan, the Czech Republic, the UK and the Philippines). The final stage is countries in advanced stages towards large-scale, speed-based2 5G Fixed Wireless Access rollouts (Oman, Norway, the US, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and Australia).
The research was undertaken online, between August and October 2023. Surveys were conducted with 23,700 respondents aged between 15 and 65, residing in households where the internet is used daily, in which they are either decision makers with influence on their household connectivity or with overall knowledge of internet usage by other members of their household.
The study equates to a global representation of 370 million households that are home to 1.2 billion individuals.
1. Best effort is defined in the Ericsson FWA handbook 2023 as a nomadic indoor device (CPE) with MBB-like device handling. Typically, volume-based price plans (e.g., GB bucket per month).
2. Speed-based 5G FWA is defined in the Ericsson FWA handbook 2023 as a managed device (CPE), indoor or outdoor. Price plan based on sold data rate. Subscription tied to known location.
