AT&T officially unveiled its oft-discussed new entry into the blazing hot fixed-wireless access (FWA) service market, targeting a market that its rivals Verizon and T-Mobile US have already extensively attacked.

The AT&T Internet Air service is being offered to consumers as an at-home Wi-Fi device that connects to the carrier’s 4G LTE and 5G network for internet connectivity and beams a Wi-Fi signal into the customer location. The carrier quietly rolled out the Internet Air service earlier this year, with this official unveiling expanding the reach of that service.

An AT&T spokesperson explained that the service can tap into the carrier’s deep C-band spectrum holdings but does not use its more extensive millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum assets.

AT&T spent $23.4 billion to gain access to C-band spectrum during a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) auction that ended in early 2021. It has since been activating that spectrum across its network and recently gained full access to those spectrum assets as part of an expedited clearing process by satellite providers that previously held those licenses.

Erin Scarborough, president of broadband and connectivity initiatives at AT&T, noted in a blog post that the service was initially offered to AT&T’s existing copper-based customers. She added that the carrier plans to expand that reach to “locations with enough wireless coverage and capacity to deliver not only a great in-home experience, but also maintain a top-notch wireless service for our existing mobile users.”

An AT&T spokesperson added that, “on a very limited basis, we’re also offering the service to new customers in select locations, primarily where we don’t currently offer other forms of home internet service.”

Some of the markets gaining access include Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Chicago, Detroit, Minneapolis, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

While the service is being targeted at the consumer space, AT&T executives have noted an opportunity to also serve enterprise customers.

Alicia Dietsch, SVP of business marketing for AT&T, recently told SDxCentral that 5G-powered FWA was increasingly becoming a fallback option for enterprise customers, including for use as an alternative connection method for SD-WAN services or as an “interim” high-speed broadband connection for fiber.

“In the right situations we would advance FWA as a recommended solution to the customer,” Dietsch said.

The AT&T service launch significantly trails similar launches by rivals Verizon and T-Mobile US. Those carriers have so far signed up millions of customers to their FWA services, with the strong growth also allowing them to start raising service pricing.

GlobalData recently predicted the FWA space will double its share of the U.S. broadband market over the next five years, surging from 7.2% of the market this year to nearly 16% in 2028.

Tammy Parker, principal analyst at GlobalData, explained that surge would come from the two factors AT&T highlighted with its latest update: easier installation and expanded reach.

“Easy self-installation and affordability, combined with high reliability and performance thanks to underlying 5G technology, are among FWA’s selling points, but so is the fact that FWA offers a new service choice versus existing solutions from incumbent service providers,” Parker wrote. “Additionally, FWA is suitable for both primary and backup internet service and can be deployed in locations where internet service may only be needed temporarily.”