Fixed Wireless Access in UK Broadband Coverage
Full-fibre dominates UK rollout headlines, but Ofcom also tracks fixed wireless access (FWA) as a distinct technology class. This guide explains what FWA means in Connected Nations data, how it contributes to the “decent fixed/FWA broadband” availability measure, and where FWA coverage is concentrated across the UK.
In numbers
According to Ofcom Connected Nations Spring 2026 (January 2026 snapshot), approximately 8.4% of UK premises have fixed wireless access available, against 81.0% full-fibre and 0.1% without decent fixed/FWA broadband.
What is fixed wireless access?
Fixed wireless access delivers broadband to a premises using a radio link between a network base station and a fixed antenna or receiver at the property, rather than a cable in the ground. In Ofcom’s Connected Nations dataset, FWA is counted separately from full-fibre (FTTP), cable, and copper-based technologies. A premises is recorded as having FWA available when at least one operator reports a qualifying fixed wireless product at that address.
FWA is not mobile broadband: it uses dedicated fixed equipment and is intended as a primary home or business connection. 5G-based FWA products have expanded the speeds available on some networks, but Ofcom’s coverage column records availability on the network, not which speed tier a household has ordered.
How Ofcom counts FWA in Connected Nations
Ofcom publishes a premises-level fwa_pct field for each local authority: the percentage of
premises where fixed wireless access is reported as available. PlainBroadband surfaces this column on
authority and constituency profiles alongside full-fibre, gigabit-capable, and superfast percentages.
For a dedicated explainer, see our
fixed/FWA availability gap guide.
FWA also feeds the without decent fixed/FWA broadband measure, the share of premises that cannot access a download speed of at least 10 Mbit/s and an upload of at least 1 Mbit/s via either fixed-line or fixed wireless infrastructure. That gap column is distinct from the legal Universal Service Obligation eligibility test; see our USO guide for the statutory right.
FWA vs full-fibre: complementary, not equivalent
Full-fibre (FTTP) and FWA solve different deployment economics. Fibre requires duct or pole infrastructure to every premises; FWA can cover scattered rural clusters from a smaller number of base stations. Where commercial fibre rollout is slow, FWA can reduce the without-decent gap even when full-fibre percentages remain modest.
The national figures illustrate the scale: UK full-fibre availability stands at 81.0% while FWA availability is 8.4%. Many authorities with high FWA also have strong full-fibre, the technologies overlap rather than replace each other in Ofcom’s premises-based accounting.
UK FWA coverage at a glance
Weighted across all 361 local authorities in the Spring 2026 extract, 8.4% of UK premises have FWA reported as available. Only 61 authorities with at least 10,000 premises record FWA availability above 20%, indicating that FWA remains a niche technology nationally but can dominate in specific local markets.
FWA coverage by nation
Premises-weighted FWA availability varies sharply between the four UK nations. Wales records the highest share in this extract, driven by authorities where wireless products cover a large fraction of premises alongside ongoing full-fibre build.
| Nation | FWA available % | Full-fibre % | No decent fixed/FWA % | Authorities |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wales | 27.1% | 80.8% | 0.3% | 22 |
| England | 8.3% | 81.3% | 0.1% | 296 |
| Northern Ireland | 2.9% | 94.0% | 0.2% | 11 |
| Scotland | 1.4% | 74.0% | 0.3% | 32 |
Share of premises with fixed wireless access reported as available
Local authorities with the highest FWA availability
The authorities below have the largest FWA availability shares among local authorities with at least 10,000 premises, the same population floor PlainBroadband uses on ranking pages to exclude very small outliers. Each percentage is drawn directly from the Connected Nations Spring 2026 extract.
| Local authority | FWA % | Full-fibre % | Gigabit % | No decent fixed/FWA % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LINCOLN | 82.2% | 86.8% | 91.9% | 0.0% |
| BURNLEY | 75.5% | 92.4% | 96.0% | 0.0% |
| BRADFORD | 73.5% | 91.3% | 95.5% | 0.0% |
| BLACKBURN WITH DARWEN | 73.2% | 89.4% | 92.5% | 0.0% |
| BLACKPOOL | 70.6% | 83.9% | 93.6% | 0.0% |
| MAIDSTONE | 63.4% | 71.4% | 80.5% | 0.2% |
| DOVER | 62.6% | 74.8% | 80.3% | 0.1% |
| TORRIDGE | 59.4% | 60.0% | 60.0% | 1.3% |
| NORTH DEVON | 58.4% | 60.9% | 60.9% | 0.5% |
| NORTH LINCOLNSHIRE | 58.2% | 93.1% | 93.8% | 0.1% |
| NORTH YORKSHIRE | 57.4% | 82.3% | 82.6% | 0.3% |
| CARDIFF | 57.0% | 87.0% | 94.4% | 0.0% |
FWA and the decent-broadband gap
Where FWA availability is high and the without-decent gap is near zero, wireless products have largely closed the 10 Mbit/s availability shortfall even before full-fibre reaches every premises. Conversely, remote Scottish and Welsh authorities with low FWA and low full-fibre still show the largest without-decent percentages, see our rural coverage gap guide and the fixed/FWA availability gap guide and the research analysis for the worst-affected areas.
How to check FWA in your area
Search for your local authority or Westminster constituency on PlainBroadband. Each profile lists FWA availability alongside full-fibre and gigabit percentages, with corpus rank context (#N of 361 authorities or #N of 650 constituencies). Use the coverage comparison tools to contrast two areas on the same Ofcom metrics.
Frequently asked questions
Does FWA count as full-fibre?
No. Ofcom treats full-fibre (FTTP) and FWA as separate technology classes. A premises can have FWA available without full-fibre, and vice versa. Gigabit-capable is a further overlapping tier that includes cable and some FWA products, see full-fibre vs gigabit-capable explained.
Why is Wales FWA availability higher than England?
Wales shows a higher premises-weighted FWA share in this extract partly because several Welsh authorities report substantial wireless coverage alongside fibre build. England’s larger denominator and denser urban full-fibre rollout dilute the national average even where individual English authorities (such as Lincoln or Burnley) record very high local FWA availability.
Is FWA the same as 4G or 5G home broadband?
Consumer “4G/5G home broadband” routers are often classified as FWA when the product is marketed as a fixed replacement for a landline connection. Ofcom’s operator returns determine whether a given product is counted in the FWA column; PlainBroadband displays the aggregated availability percentage, not individual operator product names.
What to do with this
Lincoln leads UK local authorities on FWA availability at 82.2% - a real signal of where fixed wireless is filling the fibre gap, not the national average.
- See Lincoln's full coverage profile alongside its full-fibre and gigabit figures. Lincoln profile
- FWA availability feeds directly into the fixed/FWA gap column, see how the two relate. Fixed/FWA availability gap guide
- Rural areas often lean hardest on FWA where fibre economics are weakest. Rural broadband coverage gap guide
FWA availability percentages are premises coverage from the Ofcom Connected Nations Spring 2026 extract, not a guarantee of speed at any individual address.
All FWA, full-fibre, and without-decent percentages on this guide query the Ofcom Connected Nations Spring 2026 local-authority extract. Editorial definitions summarise Ofcom public materials; no operator product recommendations are made. Nation and authority tables aggregate the same Connected Nations columns shown on entity profiles. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of January 2026.