U.S. Open RAN Build Spend Forecast, 2022-2027: A long road ahead

5G is now firmly established in the U.S. with all the major mobile operators supporting nationwide networks. LTE is still in use and will continue to carry the majority of U.S. mobile data traffic for the next couple of years, but 5G is growing rapidly. Nearly all of the current traffic is carried on RANs supplied by the traditional RAN vendors: Ericsson, Nokia and Samsung. The Open RAN initiative aims to open up the interfaces in the RAN and encourage a RAN ecosystem based on new vendors and architectures.

Fundamentally, the Open RAN concept is about building networks using equipment that separates the vendor-specific software and vendor-specific hardware associated with the vast majority of radio access network (RAN) equipment that is available today from a handful of cellular equipment vendors. Open RAN, then, uses RAN software on commercial, off-the-shelf hardware (COTS).

This market study provides a forecast for the cost to build LTE and 5G radio access networks in the U.S., together with a split of how much will be spent on traditional RAN architectures compared to Open RAN.

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Key Questions Answered

• How big is the RAN opportunity in the U.S in the next five years?
• What portion of RAN spending will be for Open RAN?
• What is the status of the major mobile operators’ 5G networks?
• 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?
• What are the major market trends for Open RAN?

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Who Should Read

• Mobile operators
• Infrastructure OEMs
• Financial analysts and investors.

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Table of Contents

• Abstract
• Executive Summary
• RAN Spending 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
• Defining Cloud RAN and Open RAN
• Cloud RAN
• Open RAN
• What does “open” mean?
• What is Open RAN?
• The Open RAN ecosystem
• How Open is open?
• iGR’s views on Open RAN
• U.S. Current 5G Networks and Open RAN announcements
• Spectrum
• AT&T
• Verizon Wireless
• T-Mobile
• UScellular
• Dish
• Rural Operators
• Other U.S. Open RAN announcements
• U.S. Open RAN Infrastructure Build Cost Forecast
• Methodology and Assumptions
• U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending
• U.S. RAN Infrastructure Build Spending by Open and Traditional RAN
• Definitions
• About iGR
• Disclaimer

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List of Tables

• Table 1: U.S. RAN Network Infrastructure Build Spending, 2022-2027 ($M)
• Table 2: U.S. RAN Network Infrastructure Build Spending, 2022-2027 (percent)
• Table 3: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2022-2027 ($M)
• Table 4: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2022-2027 (percent)
• Definitions Table

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List of Charts and Figures

• Figure A: U.S. RAN Network Infrastructure Build Spending, 2022-2027 ($M)
• Figure B: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2022-2027 ($M)
• Figure 1: Cloud RAN Deployment
• Figure 2: Open RAN Deployment
• Figure 3: O-RAN Alliance Architecture
• Figure 4: U.S. RAN Network Infrastructure Build Spending, 2022-2027 ($M)
• Figure 5: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2022-2027 ($M)
• Figure 6: U.S. Mobile Network Traditional RAN and Open RAN Build Spending, 2022-2027 (percent)

For additional information or to purchase the U.S. Open RAN Build Spend Forecast, 2022-2027 market study, please contact Iain Gillott, at (512) 796-1675 or by email.