Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is rapidly emerging as the enterprise connectivity solution of choice, and Inseego is positioning itself at the forefront of this transformation. The San Diego-based wireless broadband leader recently announced its groundbreaking 5G-Advanced FWA solutions exclusively for T-Mobile for Business customers, marking several industry firsts including the first 5G-Advanced-ready FWA solution and the first capable of network slicing.
With global 5G connections projected to surge from 2 billion in 2024 to 10 billion by decade's end, and fiber deployment costs reaching $60,000-$80,000 per mile, wireless is becoming the dominant communications paradigm for enterprises. Steve Harmon, Inseego's Chief Commercial Officer, sat down with VMblog to discuss how the company's latest innovations are capitalizing on these market trends and why FWA has become 5G's "killer app" for small- and medium-sized enterprises, retail locations, and branch offices seeking high-performance connectivity without dedicated IT resources.
VMblog: Before we get
started, can you give VMblog readers some quick background on Inseego and what
it provides to the enterprise?
Steve Harmon: Inseego (Nasdaq: INSG) is a
global leader in wireless broadband, including 5G mobile broadband and 5G fixed
wireless access (FWA) solutions. The company works closely with multiple
carriers, including T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon (among others), to provide
a mix of both consumer and business solutions to their customers. The company
is headquartered in San Diego, California, and is known for its history of
wireless innovation. It invented the Wi-Fi mobile hotspot product category with
its MiFi products and has traditionally been a first mover with technologies
like mmWave and others. In fact, the company was the first to showcase a
working product leveraging Qualcomm's latest Dragonwing platform. In addition
to our wireless innovation, the company has an entirely new leadership team. I
joined a little more than a year ago, alongside a new CFO and CPO, and our new
CEO, Juho Sarvikas (most recently Qualcomm's president, North America), came on
board in January of this year. So big things are happening here, and you can
expect a lot of activity in the coming weeks and months ahead.
VMblog: What did Inseego
announce with T-Mobile for Business?
Harmon: Inseego announced the launch of its first 5G-Advanced
solutions for Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), the Inseego WavemakerTM 5G cellular
router FX4100 and Inseego WavemakerTM mesh Wi-Fi X700, designed exclusively for
T-Mobile for Business customers. This advanced router with optional Wi-Fi mesh
node delivers unparalleled connectivity and performance for locations that may
not have dedicated onsite IT resources, making it the ideal solution for small-
and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), retail locations, restaurants, branch
offices, temporary locations such as pop-ups and kiosks, as well as state and
local government offices. This solution set has a lot of industry "firsts,"
including the first 5G-Advanced-ready FWA solution, the first 5G standalone
(SA) solution, and the first FWA solution that's capable of network slicing,
something that many carriers are just beginning to deliver.
VMblog: FWA is
experiencing a moment of deep interest right now. Why is this so popular with
enterprises?
Harmon: With networks based on 5G-Advanced from Rel 17 and beyond
becoming available to businesses, it seems that FWA has really become 5G's
"killer app" as it can deliver all the benefits of wireless connectivity
(flexibility , speed of deployment, etc.), but with the performance and
reliability that used to be the purview of wired connections. In particular,
Rel 17 significantly increases the capacity of the "uplink," which is essential
for businesses that rely on video or require uploading large amounts of data to
the cloud. When you combine these technical capabilities with a proliferation
of smaller offices, enterprise FWA just makes sense.
VMblog: What do you see as
the primary use cases for this solution?
Harmon: FWA solutions, such as the FX4100, are ideal for carpeted
enterprises that require high-performance connectivity but lack skilled IT
resources on-site. Think of retail locations, doctors' offices, professional
services firms, and similar establishments. This also includes office branches
of small- and medium-sized enterprises. Historically, FWA has been viewed as a
backup solution; however, with the advent of new technologies like network
slicing, many IT organizations are now deploying it as their primary connection.
Like all things in wireless, these continue to diversify and evolve rapidly.
VMblog: How does this news
fit into Inseego's broader vision for wireless networks in the enterprise?
Harmon: Put simply, we believe that wireless is quickly becoming the
dominant communications paradigm, even beyond wired solutions such as fiber.
The average cost of laying fiber has reached $60,000 to $80,000 per mile,
conservatively. Wireless can be deployed at a fraction of this cost. As a
result, global 5G connections are expected to explode, increasing from 2
billion in 2024 to 10 billion by the end of the decade. This has led to
significantly greater data consumption through video and cloud computing. In fact,
data consumption in the calendar year 2024 alone exceeded the entire 4G era. To
address this growth, we're confident that more spectrum is forthcoming:
government initiatives, including spectrum allocation and subsidies for network
expansion (upper mid-band in the 7-24GHz range), have provided a strong
foundation for the sustained growth of the 5G market. As 5G-Advanced comes
online and provides even more features and efficiency, it becomes clear that
applications like FWA are the future of connectivity. Our solution today is the
first of many to capitalize on these trends.
##
Steve Harmon is the Chief Commercial Officer for Inseego. He
joined Inseego in October 2023, and oversees the company's global revenue
growth, marketin, and business development strategy. Mr. Harmon has a proven
track record of developing sales teams, orchestrating targeted go-to-market
initiatives, and fostering collaboration with channel partners to drive revenue
growth. His experience in leading sales organizations, particularly those
focused on enterprise selling, is an invaluable asset to Inseego.
Harmon has over 18 years of experience leading global teams
responsible for sales, marketing and revenue operations. Most recently, Harmon
was the SVP of Global Sales at Sierra Wireless, after spending six years at
BlackBerry as the Managing Director of US Enterprise Sales. Prior to
BlackBerry, Harmon was the Global Vice President of Database & Technology
Sales at SAP. He began his career at Sybase where he spent 9 years in various
sales roles.