Robust demand for 5G NR will propel the cumulative worldwide RAN market to approach $160 B over the next five years, according to a new forecast report from Dell’Oro Group.
Other highlights from the Mobile RAN 5-Year Forecast Report:
- 5G NR will scale at a significantly faster pace than LTE.
- Sub 6 GHz spectrum is expected to drive the lion share of the RAN capex (Figure 1)
- New capex to address IoT, Fixed Wireless Access, In-Building, and Public Safety opportunities for both private and public deployments will comprise a double-digit share of the RAN market by the outer part of the forecast period.
- Sub 6 GHz Massive MIMO transceiver shipments are projected to eclipse 200 million.
“Even if 5G will be just another G initially, the reality is that for the carriers with the right spectrum assets, the mid-band Massive MIMO business case can be extremely compelling for the MBB use case,” said Stefan Pongratz, analyst with the Dell’Oro Group. “At the same time, we are more optimistic today about the mmW opportunity than we were a year ago. But clearly it will take some with the current inter-site distances before the cost per GB economics will be as favorable with the mmW spectrum as the mid-band sub 6 GHz spectrum using the existing macro grid and Massive MIMO,” continued Pongratz.