T-Mobile has expanded its Home Internet fixed wireless access (FWA) service in 57 communities across Texas. According to a T-Mobile spokesperson, this includes new markets, as well as markets where the company had FWA previously to a more limited number of locations.
The new T-Mobile Texas markets include smaller, more rural towns such as those the company previously said it would target.
Home Internet costs $50 per month with autopay, with no price hikes for two years. There are no added taxes or fees, equipment costs, annual contracts or data caps, the carrier says. For a limited time, new subscribers will get a $50 virtual prepaid card.
T-Mobile says that almost one quarter of Texas homes with access to Home Internet are in small towns and rural areas, many of which it says are underserved. The use of FWA changes the cost-benefits equation and enables more subscribers in these areas to be reached for far less investment than fiber infrastructure.
“It’s hard to believe that in 2022 we could have so many homes without internet access,” Dow Draper, T-Mobile’s Executive Vice President of Emerging Products, said in a press release. “With the investments we’ve made in our 5G network, we have the additional capacity needed to deliver on the full potential of 5G technology and bring home internet to millions of households across Texas and nationwide.”
However, there is a downside. FWA shares infrastructure with mobile services that generate far more revenue. Recent analysis from MoffetNathanson says that an unlimited mobile customer generates about $4.36 per gigabyte compared to 10 cents per GB for a FWA subscriber. That disparity led to a MoffettNathanson research note questioning why Verizon and T-Mobile are so bullish about FWA earlier this month.
The communities in which service has been expanded include:
| Abilene | Granbury | Pearsall |
| Alice | Hereford | Pecos |
| Amarillo | Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land | Plainview |
| Austin-Round Rock-Georgetown | Jacksonville | Raymondville |
| Bay City | Kerrville | Rio Grande City-Roma |
| Beaumont-Port Arthur | Killeen-Temple | Rockport |
| Beeville | Lamesa | San Angelo |
| Big Spring | Laredo | San Antonio-New Braunfels |
| Bonham | Levelland | Sherman-Denison |
| Borger | Longview | Stephenville |
| Brownsville-Harlingen | Lubbock | Sulphur Springs |
| Brownwood | Lufkin | Texarkana |
| College Station-Bryan | McAllen-Edinburg-Mission | Tyler |
| Corpus Christi | Mineral Wells | Uvalde |
| Corsicana | Mount Pleasant | Vernon |
| Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington | Odessa | Victoria |
| Del Rio | Palestine | Waco |
| Fredericksburg | Pampa | Wichita Falls |
| Gainesville | Paris | Zapata |
Amarillo – one of the communities mentioned in T-Mobile’s announcement – said late last year that it would use American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funding to build a fixed wireless network for low-income households.
