By Steve Douglas, Head of Market Strategy, Spirent Communications
For years, telecom operators have been hearing about compelling opportunities to monetize emerging 5G services. Although a massive wave of investments in 5G has transformed mobile connectivity, it has not yet delivered commercial service revenues to match advances in speed and capacity.
In the near future, the latest wave of 5G technology promises to change all that. 5G-Advanced (5G-A) is poised to unlock new revenue-generating opportunities in 5G, while empowering operators to meet escalating customer needs across a broader range of markets. With new capabilities, more diverse connectivity options, and support for artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) baked into the architecture, 5G-A networks promise to be smarter, autonomous, and more versatile. Since consistent performance and governance will be critical, testing, validation, and assurance will need to evolve to enable 5G-A to fully deliver on its potential.
Rolling Out 5G-Advanced: A Timeline for Progress
The initial wave of 5G, based on 3GPP Releases 15-17, established a new era of telecom service delivery.These advances laid the groundwork for today’s software-driven, cloud-native mobile networks. The next set of 5G-A releases is expected to push innovation further, delivering significant enhancements to capabilities like network slicing, industrial and IoT use case support, and integration of AI/ML into the RAN and core.
The 3GPP Releases 18-20 that define 5G-A provide operators a technical roadmap, as well as a planning tool to help them make sound decisions about testing and assurance strategies, as they take steps to apply new capabilities to new revenue-generating services.
• Release 18 provides expanded vertical support and enhanced core and RAN flexibility. This release is now frozen, and practical deployment planning has begun.
• Release 19 is currently in development, scheduled for release in Q3 2025. This release will deliverimproved support for use cases at the edge, IoT applications, and AI-powered operations.
• Release 20, scheduled for release in Q1 2027, is expected to extend 5G-A capabilities further and prepare a bridge toward 6G technology.
Delivering Value and Opportunity for Operators Today
For mobile network operators, Release 18 of 5G-A is a fundamental step in making 5G networks more responsive and programmable, as well as more in sync with changing service demands. It takes 5G technology beyond its current scope of enhanced connectivity and focuses on enabling precisely-defined services that demand position, control, and guaranteed outcomes.
For operators, 5G-A sets up an opportunity to deliver next-generation service offerings that provide a springboard for rich, innovative revenue models, enterprise offerings tailored to today’s requirements, and more engaging, personalized consumer experiences. Examples include:
Improved support for industrial automation and IoT: Release 18 offers enhanced Reduced Capability (eRedCap) support, enabling lightweight, inexpensive modules for IoT devices like cameras, wearables, and sensors that MNOs can sell. Additional features include improved support for automotive Vehicle to Everything (V2X) and uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), creating new revenue opportunities in agriculture, transportation, security, and more. For operators serving customers with factory or utility LANs, improvements in Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN) and ultra-low latency enhance control over uplink and downlink latency, with close cross-layer coordination for slice-level guaranteed performance.
Extended enterprise and vertical market offerings: Release 18 of 5G-A will give operators new capabilities to drive new B2B revenue by offering fully-managed private networks to campuses, mines, factories, and other customer environments. It helps streamline 5G non-public networks through partial-slice coverage, improved security integration, and non-3GPP access. The new release also enhances integration of edge computing, giving operators more control and flexibility in placing compute resources closer to the enterprise. Operators can offer industrial and enterprise customers premium services that include augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), real-time analytics, and more.
Advanced analytics and insights: Operators will gain new opportunities to monetize deeper network insights, thanks to the expansion of the 5G Core Network Data Analytics Function (NWDAF). This capability is ideal for industrial IoT and VR content providers that require extensive QoS data and real-time traffic metrics.
Coverage expansion options: Release 18 provides support for Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) and satellite connectivity. These advanced consumer services let operators dramatically expand their coverage, offering voice, messaging, and broadband coverage for maritime shipping routes, emergencies, and remote environments.
Enhanced slicing and QoS control: MNOs serving large enterprises and event venues will gain improved slice coverage and control, including partial slice geographical coverage. Release 18 also supports slice replacement, which seamlessly switches traffic to an alternate slice if a slicing issue should arise, to assure reliability and a superior user experience.
Sustainability and energy efficiency: Sustainability remains a top imperative for operators and their customers, especially for IoT use cases, and Release 18 will significantly enhance energy efficiency. The new release offers a consistent approach to measuring, comparing, and orchestrating power use across cloud, RAN, and core infrastructures. Features like Discontinuous Reception (DRX) and Cell Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) will provide energy savings, while long device eDRX sleep modes can reduce consumption for battery-powered IoT devices.
Unlocking 5G-A Business Outcomes with Test and Assurance
The rich new capabilities and use cases enabled by 5G-A are much more than competitive differentiators for operators. They are also committed to delivering compelling business outcomes to end-customers. To meet their expectations, it’s imperative that operators apply consistent testing, validation, and assurance as they develop, deploy, and monetize their new service offerings. Testing and assurance must be extended from the lab to live, constantly evolving production environments.
Traditional testing strategies won’t work in today’s increasingly dynamic, distributed environments. Service assurance must go beyond a single checkpoint, and apply a continuous, holistic approach—from design and development to testing and operations. For example, before to introducing a V2X support service, operators should test to confirm that the 5G Core will support reliable delivery of safety messaging, accurate positioning, and smooth session continuity for all V2X services.
With methodologies such as digital twins using network and traffic emulators, continuous testing within a CI/CD pipeline process, and active testing to de-risk deployments, operators can position themselves to capture the full potential of 5G-A. A closed-loop testing strategy can enable operators to move forward with confidence, innovating at cloud speed while delivering the trusted, revenue-enhancing services that customers demand.
