Global RAN Build Spend Forecast, 2021-2026: 4G, 5G, Cloud RAN and Open RAN

5G has been launched by many mobile operators in the U.S., Europe and the Asia Pacific region, as well as a smaller number in Latin America. The largest part of the evolution to 5G involves the RAN (Radio Access Network) with the deployment of the first part of the 3GPP Release 15 standard, 5G NR (New Radio). The next step, which is already underway in some regions, is to deploy the new packet core and subsequent 3GPP releases of the core and RAN.

Historically, the majority of build spending on the mobile network has been for the RAN and this is not expected to change as 5G is deployed. Therefore, if the wireless industry wishes to cut the cost of building and operating mobile networks, savings must be made in the RAN if significant benefit is to be realized. Many in the industry believe that cloud RAN and Open RAN can provide these RAN cost savings.

This market study presents a five-year forecast of RAN build spending in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific, which is further split by 4G / 5G RAN spending and traditional / Open RAN spending. The study also includes a status update on auctioned 5G spectrum and 5G network deployments in the four regions and a discussion of cloud RAN, Open RAN, edge computing and new RAN technologies such as massive MIMO and beamforming.

---

Key Questions Answered

• How big is the RAN opportunity in the U.S., Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific in the next five years?
• What portion of RAN spending will be for Open RAN?
• What is the share of RAN spending for LTE and 5G?
• What are the key capabilities for 5G networks and what are some of the goals and use cases for 5G?
• What is the status of the major mobile operators’ 5G networks?
• What are some of the technologies being used to support the deployment of 5G RAN, such as dynamic spectrum sharing, MIMO and beamforming?
• What are the new architectures that are being used to evolve the mobile network and support 5G, such as cloud RAN, Open RAN and mobile edge computing?

---

Who Should Read

• Mobile operators
• Infrastructure OEMs
• Small cell product and solution vendors
• Edge computing solution providers
• Backhaul service providers and equipment OEMs
• Financial analysts and investors.

---

Data in this report is pulled from:

• U.S. Mobile Network Infrastructure Spending Forecast, 2021-2026: Inflation, interest rates and the cloud
• Europe Mobile Network Infrastructure Spending Forecast, 2021-2026: Inflation, uncertainty and the move to 5G
• Asia Pacific Mobile Network Infrastructure Spending Forecast, 2021-2026: Deploying 5G en masse
• Latin America Mobile Network Infrastructure Spending Forecast, 2021-2026: The long road to 5G.

---

Table of Contents

• Abstract
• Executive Summary
• Spend Forecasts
• What This Means
• Methodology
• Network Model and Components
• Model Assumptions - General
• Model Assumptions – Moving to 5G
• iGR Cost Model and Mobile Operator Financial Disclosures
• 5G Defined
• eMBB
• URLLC
• mMTC
• 5G Services and Use Cases
• 5G Network Spectrum
• U.S. Spectrum
• Latin America Spectrum
• Europe Spectrum
• Asia Pacific Spectrum
• 5G Technologies
• Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS)
• Challenges Along the Road to 5G
• MIMO & Beamforming
• Cloud RAN and Open RAN
• Cloud RAN
• Open RAN
• What does “open” mean?
• What is Open RAN?
• The Open RAN ecosystem
• iGR’s views on Open RAN
• Edge Computing
• ETSI Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC)
• Criteria around what goes at the edge
• Where can edge compute be placed?
• U.S. Mobile Operators’ 5G Networks
• AT&T
• Verizon Wireless
• T-Mobile
• U.S. Cellular
• Dish
• Rural Operators
• Latin America 5G Spectrum and Deployments
• Spectrum
• Regional Operators
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Chile
• Colombia
• Costa Rica
• Dominican Republic
• Ecuador
• El Salvador
• Guatemala
• Honduras
• Mexico
• Panama
• Paraguay
• Peru
• Puerto Rico
• Uruguay
• European Mobile Operators’ 5G Networks
• BT (EE)
• Deutsche Telekom
• Orange (France, Spain)
• Telefonica (Spain, Germany, UK)
• Telenor (Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland)
• Telia (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Estonia)
• Three UK
• TIM
• Vodafone (Germany, Spain, UK)
• Asia Pacific Spectrum and 5G Networks
• Australia
• China
• Hong Kong
• India
• Indonesia
• Japan
• New Zealand
• Philippines
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Thailand
• RAN Infrastructure Build Cost Forecast by Region
• Methodology and Assumptions
• U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending
• U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation
• U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Open and Traditional RAN
• Latin America RAN Infrastructure Build Spending
• Latin America RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation
• Latin America RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Open and Traditional RAN
• Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending
• Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation
• Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Open and Traditional RAN
• Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending
• Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation
• Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Open and Traditional RAN
• Global RAN Infrastructure Build Cost Forecast Summary
• Definitions
• About iGR
• Disclaimer

---

List of Tables

• Table 1: U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 2: U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 3: U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 4: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 5: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 6: LATAM RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 7: LATAM RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 8: LATAM RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 9: LATAM Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 10: LATAM Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 11: Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 12: Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 13: Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 14: Europe Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 15: Europe Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 16: Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 17: Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 18: Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 19: Asia Pacific Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 20: Asia Pacific Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Table 21: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Region, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 22: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Table 23: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Type of RAN, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Definitions Table

---

List of Charts and Figures

• Figure A: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure B: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure C: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Type of RAN, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 1: No DSS versus With DSS
• Figure 2: Cloud RAN Deployment
• Figure 3: Open RAN Deployment
• Figure 4: O-RAN Alliance Architecture
• Figure 5: U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 6: U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 7: U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 8: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 9: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 10: LATAM RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 11: LATAM RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 12: LATAM RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 13: LATAM Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 14: LATAM Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 15: Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 16: Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 17: Europe RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 18: Europe Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 19: Europe Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 20: Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 21: Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 22: Asia Pacific RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 23: Asia Pacific Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 24: Asia Pacific Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2021-2026 (percent)
• Figure 25: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 26: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Region, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 27: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Generation, 2021-2026 ($M)
• Figure 28: RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Type of RAN, 2021-2026 ($M)

For additional information on the Global RAN Build Spend Forecast, 2021-2026: 4G, 5G, Cloud RAN and Open RAN market study, please contact Iain Gillott, at (512) 796-1675 or by email.