Dell’Oro Group finds in its latest Mobile RAN 5-year Forecast Report that while overall RAN market conditions are expected to remain challenging in the near-term, growing adoption of LTE small cells and 5G macro technologies will drive a return to market growth towards the end of the forecast period, and predicts that cumulative 5G RAN investment will exceed $6 billion by 2021.
Further highlights from Dell’Oro’s mobile RAN forecast report include:
1. LTE and 5G small cell RAN revenue is expected to increase 4-fold over the forecast period to 2021.
2. Millimetre-wave technology is expected to account for less than 5% of the overall 5G equipment market by 2021.
3. Almost half of 5G RAN market revenue will feature C-RAN and cloud-RAN architectures by 2021.
Dell’Oro notes that cumulative revenue for the total RAN market between 2017 and 2021 looks set to experience the weakest five-year period since it began tracking the market in 2000.
Regarding the report, Stefan Pongratz, senior director at Dell’Oro Group, said:
“A stronger focus than initially envisioned on the sub-3 and -6 GHz 5G macro layers, coupled with a robust outlook for LTE small cells, form the basis for a more optimistic view of the overall RAN market in the outer part of the forecast”.
“Although the IoT impact on the RAN market remains highly uncertain, the demand for enhanced mobile broadband is expected to remain robust, resulting in strong 5G macro uptake in the advanced mobile broadband markets, with China, Japan, Korea, and North America accounting for more than 90% of the 5G market by (2021)”.
