InfrastructureMay 10, 2025·6 min read
Rural broadband economics: why fixed wireless is winning the last mile
FWA is closing the rural connectivity gap faster than fiber subsidies — and the unit economics are finally working.
Fiber to every farmhouse was always going to be a 20-year subsidy story. Fixed wireless access closes the same gap in a single construction season.
CBRS, mid-band 5G and newer mmWave deployments have pushed FWA throughput into fiber-competitive territory for the vast majority of household use cases.
Capital efficiency is the unlock: a single tower can serve hundreds of subscribers at a fraction of the per-home cost of trenched fiber.
For regional ISPs, FWA isn't a stopgap — it's the architecture.
Written by Opn Editorial