It seems as though the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) 4G/5G Fixed Wireless Access Forum has come a long way in fulfilling its mission.
The forum was established in late 2020 with the main objective of raising industry awareness of the importance of fixed wireless access (FWA) services and to expand the FWA ecosystem.
Today, the GSA released the findings of an annual market survey that show 5G FWA customer premises equipment (CPE) shipments more than doubled to 3.6 million in 2021 – a year-on-year increase of over 162%.
FWA CPE shipments are forecast to double again in 2022, to 7.6 million, accounting for more than 25% of all shipments by the vendors surveyed.
In a press release, the GSA said the strong uptake of 5G FWA devices is expected to continue, with vendors indicating they intend to bring more 5G products to market.
While FWA devices that are both 4G and 5G capable doubled in 2021, the majority – 84% – of shipments in 2021 remained LTE-only, according to the vendors surveyed. Out of all 5G shipments, 160,000 were millimeter wave (mmWave) based devices, an increase from 130,000 the previous year.
However, 88% of respondents indicated that they have, or plan to introduce, 5G mmWave products in the next few years.
"Currently there are no agreed market definitions, there is a lack of market information, and no consensus on the volume of FWA device shipments and FWA installed base globally," said Julien Grivolas, chairman of the GSA 4G/5G FWA Forum, in a statement. "The purpose of the GSA 4G/5G FWA Forum is to educate the industry about the FWA market and this annual market survey plays an important role in providing a global picture of the true state of the fixed wireless access market and how it is evolving and growing."
The forum started out with just 14 initial partners and members and has expanded to 49 companies that are promoting FWA for mobile broadband. FWA CPE suppliers form the bulk of membership but module and chipset companies also are involved.
Source: https://www.fiercewireless.com/5g/5g-fixed-wireless-access-cpe-shipments-grow-162-gsa
