- AT&T is making strong headway in collecting new FWA subscribers
- T-Mobile is no longer breaking out its quarterly FWA subscriber adds
- Verizon's FWA subscriber growth is slowing
AT&T says its 5G home internet service has hit 2 million subscribers, and more than 1 million of them pair it with AT&T wireless.
This compares to Verizon’s approximately 6.2 million fixed wireless access (FWA) subscribers and T-Mobile’s approximately 8.5 million FWA accounts as of the first of this year.
The big discrepancy between AT&T and its competitors is due to the fact that AT&T was late to the FWA party. But it seems fully onboard now. Starting next month, AT&T customers can order AT&T Internet Air in-store and leave with the necessary equipment to install the service immediately.
According to AT&T, those who combine AT&T Internet Air with an eligible AT&T wireless plan can get home internet for as low as $35 per month.
Wave7 Research Analyst Jeff Moore tracks the marketing activities of FWA operators, and he published his latest FWA report last week.
In regard to T-Mobile, Moore said its fixed wireless marketing is heavy, including TV and radio ads. And T-Mobile is using direct mail to pitch its FWA offering at $35 per month, along with a $200 gift card for switchers. The un-carrier is also doing a lot of ads and displays at its 5,869 retail stores.
Unfortunately, T-Mobile doesn’t report its quarterly FWA subscribers additions.
“Verizon had only 193,000 fixed wireless additions in 2Q26, which was down greatly from levels seen in all recent quarters,” wrote Moore. “The carrier is using email to pitch fixed wireless to its mobile customers at $25/month.”
And at some Verizon stores, there are separate wall displays for home internet. “Electronic monitors make pitches on many store internet displays, including the $35/month price, 3-year price lock,” said Moore.
Meanwhile, he noted that AT&T Internet Air net adds have been strong, coming in well above Verizon’s fixed wireless adds, with 279,000 in the second quarter. And yet, there is no advertising for it and marketing is minimal, such as a flyer in stores pitching the bundle for those 55+ at $99/month for two mobile unlimited lines and a line of AT&T Internet Air.
What’s the takeaway?
It seems T-Mobile is doing heavy marketing of fixed wireless, but it’s unclear how successful that is, given the fact that the company is no longer reporting its FWA additions.
Verizon is doing mediocre marketing of FWA and getting mediocre results.
Inexplicably, AT&T is doing minimal marketing and yet garnering impressive numbers of new subscribers. But this is probably attributed to the fact that it’s late to the FWA game and still has more runway than its competitors.
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