5G Radio Access Network Market By Component (Hardware, Software, Services), By Architecture (Traditional RAN, Centralized RAN (C-RAN), Distributed RAN (D-RAN), Virtualized RAN (vRAN), Open RAN (O-RAN)), By Connectivity Technology (5G New Radio (5G NR), Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD), Time Division Duplexing (TDD), LTE Advanced Pro), By Network Type (Standalone 5G (SA), Non-Standalone 5G (NSA)), By Application (Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), Industrial Automation, Others), and By End-User (Telecom Operators, Enterprises, Government & Public Safety, Smart Cities, Others), Global Market Size, Segmental Analysis, Regional Overview, Company Share Analysis, Leading Company Profiles, and Market Forecast, 2025 – 2035.

---

What trends will shape the 5G Radio Access Network Market in the coming years?

The 5G Radio Access Network Market accounted for USD 31.03 Billion in 2024 and USD 34.27 Billion in 2025 is expected to reach USD 92.60 Billion by 2035, growing at a CAGR of around 10.45% between 2025 and 2035. Increasing Open RAN and virtualized RAN (vRAN) deployments in the 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) market will have a shaping effect based on vendor interoperability and vendor cost-effectiveness. Investment in edge computing and network slicing will also allow serving a wide range of applications, including autonomous cars and smart factories. Advanced RAN hardware and software will be in demand because of the rollout of standalone 5G networks. Also, the network automation with AI will improve its operation, decrease the latency, and simplify its processes. The increase in the use of mmWave and mid-band spectrum and the rise of private 5G networks among corporations across the entire world will contribute further to the promotion of the market.

What do industry experts say about the 5G Radio Access Network market trends?

“AI‑RAN has tremendous potential to completely transform the future of mobile networks, but it will be difficult to get right. That’s why T‑Mobile is jumping in now to help lead the way with our partners.”

• Mike Sievert, President and CEO of T‑Mobile US.

Which segments and geographies does the report analyze?

What are the key drivers and challenges shaping the 5G Radio Access Network market?

How does increasing mobile data consumption drive demand for scalable high-speed 5G RAN infrastructure?

The global Radio Access Networks 5G market is currently experiencing a boom as the mobile data traffic has exponentially increased, and network operators need scale and speed to maintain the rising traffic. The recent Economic Survey 2024-25 of India shows that the average amount of wireless data consumed per subscriber has risen to 21.2 GB per month, a sign of increasing digital activity in the country. It is mostly spurred by high-definition video streaming, cloud gaming, IoT apps, and remote workforces. This has created pressure on telecom operators to develop capacity and reliability in the networks.

The flexibility of 5G RAN systems, such as virtualized RAN and Open RAN, allows the use of cost-efficient scaling. Dynamic distribution of network resources is possible using these systems, giving constant performance when there is a high burden of data traffic. Moreover, new-generation RAN solutions can accommodate low latency, which is vital in real-time applications, such as self-driving cars and smart production. Additional flexibility is enabled by the combination of software-defined networking and intelligent orchestration. Simply put, increasing mobile data traffic is leading the telecom environment towards next-generation RAN (mobile network) solutions capable of addressing the changing connectivity needs.

What role do smart city and IoT expansions play in boosting advanced 5G RAN deployments?

The overall growth in smart cities and mass implementation of IoT, particularly in emerging economies, are major drivers that are spurring the growth of the 5G Radio Access Network Market. Since the Smart Cities Mission of India was completed in March 2025, 7,510 of the 8,058 approved projects have been completed, and the national determination in transforming to a digital country is visible. These projects are integrated surveillance, transport management, and public service platforms, which are platforms highly dependent on strong 5G RAN constructs. Ultra-reliable, low-latency connectivity is a requirement in smart cities to facilitate real-time applications such as traffic automation and smart lighting, and emergency response.

The growth in the number of interrelated devices in the metro environment has imposed the need for elastic and adjustable RAN infrastructures like Massive MIMO, Open RAN, and virtualized RAN. The combination of sensors, autonomous systems, and edge computing drives operators to implement a densified intelligent RAN architecture. Such deployments also increase the throughput of data, minimize latency, and raise network efficiency. Further, 5G RAN enables the smooth operations of IoT-based utilities such as water distribution utilities and waste management. Consequently, the smart city development serves as a booster of 5G advanced RAN implementation, which enhances its central importance in next-generation urban planning.

How do high initial infrastructure and spectrum costs limit early 5G RAN implementation plans?

High early infrastructure and spectrum costs are barriers to the premature implementation of the 5G Radio Access Network Market. The installation of 5G RAN uses more fiber line investment in the backhaul zone, base control, and more envelope input, such as Massive MIMO. The upgrades from 4G to these are much more expensive compared to 4G, as dense networks are required, and also an urban deployment requires small cells. Moreover, license acquisition, especially in the 5G spectrum, is very costly, as every government is engaging in costly auctions that could stretch the budgets of telecom operators. This can be an example of where spectrum auction prices have been faulted as being extremely high in countries such as Germany and India.

The latter makes large-scale slow, particularly in rural or less developed areas where ROI is expressly not determined. It is costly to fund smaller telecom companies and developing economies, which is dragging the accessibility of 5G, to be fair. In addition, there is a lack of infrastructure sharing, which puts more economic pressure on the operators. Open RAN and vRAN R&D investments are impacted by this financial pressure as well. All these large upfront costs are barriers to deploying 5G RAN at scale and speed.

How can private 5G networks transform industrial automation with secure, ultra-low latency connectivity solutions?

The 5G Radio Access Network Market enjoys significant leverage in the process because the private 5G networks are changing industrial automation, providing secure and very low latency connections, which are mandatory requirements of mission-critical services. India also experienced increased growth in connected industrial devices with 55 million machine-to-machine (M2M) connections as of September 2024, according to the Telecom Regulatory Authority (TRAI). With 5G private networks, robotic assembly lines, self-driving vehicles, and other precision-guided sensors can all be controlled in real time to deliver a synchronized operational environment with millisecond response times across machines. These networks have dedicated bandwidth and local management facilities; hence, they are more reliable, and the data is not exposed to other people, unlike in public networks. They accommodate such applications as industrial IoT, digital twins, and augmented reality that are imperative in smart manufacturing settings.

The mobility of privately owned 5G can enable lifting network slicing and specific quality-of-service levels dependent on desired industrial requirements. This curbs the number of operational disturbances and increases the process efficacy and security. Enterprises have complete control over the network protection and infrastructure, keeping secret information about their operations. Combined with edge computing, private 5G will allow you to do local data processing at high speed to enhance real-time analytics and decision-making. Generally, the idea of building industrial automation networks based on 5G technology is transforming industrial automation with its unmatched performance, high-level security, and operating precision.

What future potential lies in AI-driven RAN optimization for real-time intelligent traffic management?

The 5G Radio Access Network Market is well on its way with AI-enabled optimization of their RAN; this presents a huge potential for 5G in managing intelligent traffic in real time. The AI algorithms allow the resource allocation within the network to be dynamic according to the traffic flow and minimize latency, and improve connectivity in dense urban locations. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways of India, 20% of the urban roads were digitized by 2024, which evokes the necessity for smart solutions. RAN systems enabled with AI make movable traffic control possible by using their AI to time signals and optimize network busy rates to enable the continuous flow of data.

Embedded within each of these systems is a machine learning that forecasts patterns of congestion and reroutes data as a precautionary measure. Use of edge computing also helps in reducing response time in case of mission-critical services due to the closeness of decision-making to the source. These features are particularly helpful in the case of autonomous cars, intelligent streets, and infrastructure interconnection. The AI-driven RAN is optimized through continuous learning about the behavior of traffic and increases coverage and operational efficiency. The interface of AI and 5G promotes the implementation of the next-gen mobility solutions faster. Finally, it enhances the online infrastructure of smart cities and real-time control of vehicle traffic.

What are the key market segments in the 5G Radio Access Network industry?

Based on the component, the 5G Radio Access Network Market is classified into hardware, software, and services. Of all the segments, the hardware sector is the biggest concerning the widespread proliferation of small cells, antennas, remote radio units (RRU), and baseband units (BBU) to enable high-speed, low-latency 5G networks. But the fastest-growing segment is the software one, as more virtualized and Open RAN architectures are deployed around the world that need more sophisticated network management, orchestration, and AI-based automation tools.

In deployment, integration, optimization, and maintenance, services are essential, particularly in enhancing legacy systems even as telecom operators transform the legacy infrastructure. Finally, the demand for software and services is also being enhanced by increasing investments in cloud-native RAN and edge computing. In general, the component world is trending in the space of increased flexibility, scalability, and intelligence throughout the RAN world.

Based on the application, the 5G Radio Access Network Market is classified into Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), Industrial Automation, and Others. The market share for most of these is largely led by eMBB as more businesses and consumers require high-speed data, 4K/8K video streaming, and immersive applications like AR/VR.

URLLC is becoming popular in demanding applications such as autonomous cars, remote surgeries, and mission-critical communications, where ultra-low latency is important. mMTC facilitates high IoT connectivity for users in smart homes, agriculture, and utilities. FWA is becoming one of the major alternatives to fiber in underserved regions and rural locations. Quickly establishing smart cities through governments and rapid urbanization are contributing to the uptake of technology in the public safety, surveillance, and infrastructure management sectors. The wide variation of the scope of application is rapidly increasing the need for flexible and expandable 5G RAN solutions around the world.

Which regions are leading the 5G Radio Access Network market, and why?

The North America 5G Radio Access Network Market is leading due to its early exploitation of 5G technology, massive investments made by key telecom industries such as Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile, and excellent governmental commitments to the digital infrastructure. U.S. leadership in the region is driven by the vast deployment of both NSA and SA 5G networks, the growth of both mmWave and mid-band spectrum coverage, and the continued experimentation with Open RAN and virtualized RAN solutions.

The region is also a network innovation center, with main actors cooperating on the AI-powered RAN solutions and integrating edge computing. Automotive, industrial automation, and smart cities are among the sectors that are leading to even greater growth as a result of high demand. Further, the existence of technology giants and fierce spectrum auctions has made North America a world leader in 5G RAN developments.

The Asia Pacific 5G Radio Access Network Market is growing due to rapid digital transformation, an increasing mobile user base, and fast 5G deployments by countries such as China, South Korea, Japan, and India. China is at the forefront in infrastructure deployment and innovations, and this can be attributed to the high level of government initiatives and large-scale investments by network operators such as China Mobile and China Telecom.

South Korea and Japan have developed highly sophisticated 5G ecosystems, built around smart cities, self-driving cars, and the industrial internet of things. In the meantime, India is experiencing an increasingly large inflow of investment in 5G since spectrum auctions, with operators such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel increasing their RAN. Growth is gaining pace due to the rising need of the region for cloud-native, virtualized RAN solutions and greater collaboration of the population with the government. Various applications in manufacturing, healthcare, and intelligent infrastructure are ongoing market drivers in Asia.

What does the competitive landscape of the 5G Radio Access Network market look like?

The 5G Radio Access Network Market competition is heating up as major vendors, i.e., Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia, and ZTE, become the most innovative RAN developers and implementers globally. Ericsson remains prominent, with Omdia announcing that it is the largest RAN vendor in 2025 and Frost & Sullivan declaring that it leads the 5G infrastructure market for a 5th straight year because of AI-enabled energy-efficient Massive MIMO solutions. Huawei has managed to stay very competitive, reclaiming its market share in the RAN in the non-Chinese markets and growing commercially.

Another strategic move that Nokia is undertaking deals with Orange France and Boost Mobile with cloud-native voice and automated, energy-efficient networks. In the meantime, ZTE is emerging as a close competitor of Huawei in the new markets. There is a move to using virtualized and AI-enabled RAN orchestration in the market, although the majority of deployments are more inclined toward single-vendor vRAN systems than Open RAN. Our ability to innovate, work across our ecosystem, and be regionally nimble is fast becoming a differentiator. The battlefield of the future is edge computing and private 5G networks. Major vendors are putting money on R&D in order to create the next generation of clever, scalable 5G RAN infrastructure.

5G Radio Access Network Market, Company Shares Analysis, 2024

To explore in-depth analysis in this report - Request Sample Report

Which recent mergers, acquisitions, or product launches are shaping the 5G Radio Access Network industry?

• In March 2025, At MWC 2025 in Barcelona, Ericsson unveiled a major expansion of its RAN hardware family, as seven new Massive MIMO and remote radios, indoor 5G solutions, and an open fronthaul suite under the RAN Connect brand, boosting energy efficiency by up to 30 % and reducing carbon footprint by up to 50 %.
• In February 2025, Ericsson, in partnership with Okinawa Cellular and KDDI, completed the first commercial deployment of Ericsson's fourth-generation RAN Compute platform in Northeast Asia. The deployment included the new Radio Processor 6355, which offers a 53% reduction in product size and a 35% decrease in energy consumption compared to its predecessor.

Report Coverage:

By Component

• Hardware
• Software
• Services

By Architecture

• Traditional RAN
• Centralized RAN (C-RAN)
• Distributed RAN (D-RAN)
• Virtualized RAN (vRAN)
• Open RAN (O-RAN)

By Connectivity Technology

• 5G New Radio (5G NR)
• Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD)
• Time Division Duplexing (TDD)
• LTE Advanced Pro

By Network Type

• Standalone 5G (SA)
• Non-Standalone 5G (NSA)

By Application

• Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)
• Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC)
• Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC)
• Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)
• Industrial Automation
• Others

By End-User

• Telecom Operators
• Enterprises
• Government & Public Safety
• Smart Cities
• Others

By Region

North America

• U.S.
• Canada

Europe

• U.K.
• France
• Germany
• Italy
• Spain
• Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific

• China
• Japan
• India
• Australia
• South Korea
• Singapore
• Rest of Asia Pacific

Latin America

• Brazil
• Argentina
• Mexico
• Rest of Latin America

Middle East & Africa

• GCC Countries
• South Africa
• Rest of the Middle East & Africa

List of Companies:

• Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
• Nokia Corporation
• Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd.
• ZTE Corporation
• Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
• NEC Corporation
• Fujitsu Limited
• Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.
• Intel Corporation
• Mavenir Systems, Inc.
• Parallel Wireless, Inc.
• Cisco Systems, Inc.
• CommScope Holding Company, Inc.
• Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company
• VMware, Inc.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)