Broadband access equipment revenues dipped in Q1, but fiber and FWA are rising

Fiber, FWA continued to rise

Fiber providers and Fixed Wireless Access providers continued to actively expand their footprints and customer bases during the first quarter.

In the first quarter, AT&T added more than 261,000 fiber subscribers, up from 252,000 in the same period last year. Total broadband net additions reached 137,000, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of broadband growth and the second successive quarter exceeding 100,000 net additions.

The telco has recently reached 30 million locations with fiber, a number that is expected to increase when it completes its acquisition of Lumen’s FTTH assets next year.

Other players like Frontier and Shentel also made progress with fiber during the quarter. Frontier added 321,000 fiber passings to reach 8.1 million locations passed with fiber. Shentel added 5,400 new Glo Fiber customers during the quarter and added 16,600 new passings.

Dell’Oro noted that PON ONT unit shipments were up 1 percent year-over-year. This marked what the research firm said was the fifth consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth, as fiber ISPs focus on adding subscribers and increasing take rates.

“Despite a high level of uncertainty about the global macroeconomic environment, broadband service providers in North America and EMEA continue to move forward with their fiber expansion plans, as evidenced by solid purchases of new OLT ports in both regions this quarter,” said Jeff Heynen, Vice President with Dell’Oro Group.

Fixed wireless also continued to see momentum in the first quarter.

Verizon was again a frontrunner with FWA in North America. The telco added 308,000 new FWA customers in the first quarter of 2025, growing the base to over 4.8 million fixed wireless access subscribers.

However, Fios internet net additions were 45,000 in the first quarter of 2025, down from 53,000 in the first quarter of 2024. 

Dell’Oro noted that spending on 5G Fixed Wireless CPE reached another record high this quarter, as operators in the US, India, and a growing list of markets continue to expand their Fixed Wireless Access subscribers.

As service providers expand their broadband footprints, sales of residential Wi-Fi 7 routers are benefiting. Driven by lower-cost dual-band units, residential Wi-Fi 7 router shipments rose 1341% year-over-year.

Cable struggles continued

Cable, however, appears to have struggled in the first quarter, as its subscriber levels dipped again.

Charter and Comcast, which are still the top players in terms of overall broadband subscribers, lost 60,000 and 199,000, respectively

Dell’Oro noted that spending on DOCSIS infrastructure declined 34 percent sequentially, primarily due to a 62 percent sequential decline in spending on RPDs.

“Cable operators dramatically reduced their spend on new Remote PHY Devices (RPDs), as they await new units that support a unified approach to DOCSIS 4.0,” Heynen said.

For related articles, visit the Broadband Topic Center.
For more information on high-speed transmission systems and suppliers, visit the Lightwave Buyer’s Guide.
To stay abreast of fiber network deployments, subscribe to Lightwave’s Service Providers and Datacom/Data Center newsletters.