As 5G usage continues to grow, especially with fixed-wireless services gaining market share from cable, and discussions start on what 6G might look like, fiber stands as the steady and reliable partner enabling the wireless last mile. It should be no surprise that one Tier 1 provider has testified to the benefits of fiber for wireless sales while a historically all-wireless provider is now investing heavily in building a fiber portfolio.
AT&T has made no secret of how fiber and wireless complement each other for better fiscal returns. In September 2024, AT&T described how the two services complement each other, as it has built up a user base of more than 8.8 million fiber customers. Four out of every 10 AT&T fiber households also choose AT&T wireless services, and the company’s postpaid phone subscriber share is about 500 basis points higher in areas where it offers fiber versus its average subscriber share nationwide. The net benefits to AT&T are providing its customers with one-stop shopping for mobile and residential services while increasing average revenue per customer (ARPU), a key Wall Street metric for measuring performance and profitability.
But this is only the beginning. AT&T’s fiber network currently passes more than 28 million locations, with plans to surpass 50 million by the end of 2029. These expansions will come through a combination of organic deployments, its Gigapower open-access network project, and collaborations with other open-access service providers.
T-Mobile, a name not typically associated with fiber, has been expanding its fiber assets for the past three years. The company now offers fiber in 32 markets across eight states through various partnerships and has made significant investments this year in Lumos and Metronet, which will extend its reach to over 20 additional states.
Fiber provides T-Mobile with two complementary resources. For deploying fixed wireless, expanded fiber allows for broader coverage. When fixed wireless service becomes oversubscribed, particularly in urban and suburban locations, fiber provides a migration path to faster speeds while freeing up spectrum.
Given 5G’s high-speed requirements, service providers and tower operators should expect growing demand for fiber to the tower, as well as upgrades to existing connections to support numerous multi-gig users simultaneously. In November 2024, T-Mobile bragged it had demonstrated uplink speeds of 2.2 Gbps at SoFi Stadium in Southern California using New Radio Dual Connectivity (5G DC), while Qualcomm demonstrated 7.5 Gbps downlink speeds in 2023. It is not difficult to imagine the need for 100 Gbps or faster connections between towers and core network connections to fully support 5G’s potential.
This growth isn’t limited to traditional “tall towers” with their looming infrastructure, but a full range of sizes and form factors, including more emphasis on small cells to enhance 5G coverage and performance in urban areas across all markets. Street-pole style “towers” enables carriers to get more efficient use of 5G spectrum in densely populated areas while enhancing indoor coverage for homes and businesses.
Fiber will also increase its presence at the foot of the tower as edge computing resources are deployed to reduce latency for e-commerce and AI applications – and, eventually, for AR/VR/XR technologies. The saying “time is money” is just as true in the virtual arena as it is in the real world: customers who experience delays during e-commerce transactions are more likely to abandon purchases, turn to competitors, or simply forgo their purchase altogether.
Continuously improving fiber connectivity in the wireless world is a necessity, not a luxury. In the years to come, the expansion of fiber and faster speeds will go hand in hand as the world migrates toward 6G for outside the home and Wi-Fi 8 for homes and businesses. Investing in fiber today, especially in quick and efficient deployment, will yield significant dividends far into the future.
Clearfield’s Chief Marketing Officer, Anis Khemakhem, is deeply passionate about technology, particularly in advancing fiber optics and telecommunications solutions. Throughout his career, he has consistently focused on leveraging cutting-edge technology to improve connectivity and enhance digital access across various sectors. His executive experience - including leadership positions at Clearfield, Amphenol and Carlisle Interconnect Technologies - demonstrates his executive engagement capabilities and capacity to handle complex, multi-stakeholder projects.