Fixed wireless to become the 2nd largest fixed broadband technology in 2027

According to Dataxis’ latest releases, the total number of fixed broadband subscriptions will reach 2 billion in 2031, up from 1.64 billion at the end of last year. In 2035, it will reach 2.27 billion subscriptions, growing at a CAGR of 2.7% from 2025 to 2035. This overall growth will be mainly driven by two technologies. First, fiber will account for the bulk of the growth, and represent 80% of all fixed broadband accesses in 2035, up from 69% at the end of 2024. It will notably gain market share at the expense of aging technologies such as coaxial cable and DSL, which will both shrink in absolute values. Internet cable subscribers will shrink at a CAGR of 4.2% and xDSL subscribers at a CAGR of 7.7% over the next decade. Yet, fiber will be outpaced by the rollout of fixed wireless technologies, which prove more cost-efficient and thus more likely to connect white areas. First, convergent operators have been investing to upgrade their mobile infrastructure, thus progressively migrating their fixed wireless access subscribers to 5G. Second, LEO satellite broadband subscriptions will grow at the fastest pace in the next decade (CAGR of 14.2%), although it will remain marginal at global scale. Consequently, fixed wireless access will become the second most popular fixed broadband access technology, overtaking xDSL in 2026 and coaxial cable in 2027.  As a result, a combination of fiber and fixed wireless access is expected to dominate more and more markets in the future. Both technologies will account for 90% of the fixed broadband market in 2032, and reach 92% in 2035.