Fixed 5G starting to hit residential markets in Latin America

After sparking great promise, 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) solutions are starting to reach the end consumer market in Latin America.

The technology, with which operators and suppliers expect to open new revenue streams and gain business opportunities, irradiates the 5G signal on a device within premises, similar to a Wi-Fi router for fixed broadband networks.

It is an early use case for 5G, especially in regions where fixed broadband is lacking or hard to install and in emerging markets such as Latin America.

Last week, Telefónica commercially launched its FWA product in Brazil, becoming the second 5G-enabled operator in the country to formally offer 5G FWA for the end customer.

Branded Vivo Box 5G, it offers a combination of a 5G mobile plan and a Wi-Fi 6 router that captures the 5G signal and transforms it into Wi-Fi to connect devices simultaneously.

The customer premise equipment (CPE) was manufactured by Brazil’s Intelbrás. It does not require specialized technicians or cable installations in the customer's homes, the company said in a statement.

The router with the data chip can also be taken to other premises and locations. Telefônica Brasil's 5G network is present in more than 170 cities.

CLARO

In August last year, Claro became the first Brazilian mobile carrier to market 5G FWA to consumers. As in Telefônica’s case, Claro 5G+ modems with WI-FI 6 are supplied by Intelbrás, with Qualcomm chipsets.

Other operators are expected to make similar announcements shortly.

“We already have over 2,000 CPEs [customer premises equipment] delivered to Claro for this residential service. It's still relatively small scale, but it's significant. Several other carriers and ISPs are testing it,” Amilcar Scheffer, networks director at Intelbras, told BNamericas at the time.

ISP Brisanet, another 5G-licensee in Brazil, plans to offer 5G FWA in large cities, as redundancy or backup for the fixed connectivity it offers to the corporate segment, in addition to offering for consumers in smaller cities.

iez! telecom, one of the tender winners of a regional 5G license for Rio de Janeiro, Minas Gerais and Espírito Santo states, also aims to offer FWA in addition to traditional mobile services, it announced last week.

On the B2B front, the model is more advanced, mainly for serving private networks.

Brazilian bank Bradesco had over 150 branches operating with 5G through FWA in June.

In Manaus, licensee Ligga began activating 5G in the FWA format in November for the exclusive use of companies in the Industrial District I in the Manaus free trade zone, one of the country’s main industrial hubs.

Ligga planned to install 20 radio base stations on light poles, covering an area where there are around 400 companies. The FWA technology will radiate the internet signal from these stations, similar to a Wi-Fi modem.

In Costa Rica, Huawei and Nokia had been selected as providers of 5G FWA for state telco ICE’s subsidiary Racsa. These networks will be used mainly for corporate and industrial projects.

LATIN AMERICA

Elsewhere in Latin America, Colombian market entrant Telecall will have 5G FWA as the core service for its arrival in the country, the company’s VP and co-founder Bruno Ajuz told BNamericas. 

Telecall won a block in the 5G spectrum auction in December.

Colombian telcos have been trailblazers in 5G FWA trials, although not necessarily targeting end consumers.

In September 2020, DirecTV activated its commercial 5G FWA service in certain parts of capital Bogotá, building on a 4G FWA proposition launched in 2014. 

Claro Colombia initiated a six-month 5G FWA trial in mid-2020 using a block of 3.5GHz spectrum that regulator ANE allocated on a temporary basis.

In Peru, Claro and Entel received clearance from regulator Osiptel to use their existing 3.5GHz bands for 5G FWA, having both subsequently launched such services in select districts of Lima. Huawei is the vendor for Claro 5G FWA and Ericsson supplies Entel 5G FWA.

The Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) said in a November report that it has identified announced FWA service offers using either 4G or 5G from 554 operators in 187 countries and territories, with services launched by 477 operators in 175 countries. 

According to the GSA, over 15 carriers in Latin America were investing in 5G FWA, although not necessarily with marketed solutions.

In its latest mobility report, Ericsson estimated Latin America will have some 14mn FWA connections by November. Besides, of the regional total FWA networks, some 14% would be 5G, according to the Swedish vendor.

“Latin America has a low percentage of service providers offering FWA, as well as a low percentage offering services over 5G. However, it has the second highest speed-based tariff plan adoption of all regions at more than 40%,” it said.

According to mobile carrier association GSMA, as of January last year, more than 90 fixed broadband service providers, most of them mobile operators, had launched commercial 5G-based FWA services in 48 countries.