While the scope of Frost & Sullivan’s 5G coverage deals with all aspects of the mobile value chain, from delivery infrastructure to innovative services and use cases, this report delves into the global 5G infrastructure market, along with the standards and specifications that are driving this new generation of wireless communication technology. 5G is not only about faster download speeds; there are a large number of use cases envisioned for 5G in a range of industries that promise impacts far beyond watching videos on a smartphone.

There are several new requirements and technologies that are essential to enabling the 5G vision. These include new spectrum, carrier aggregation, massive multiple input multiple output, beamforming, active antenna systems, and network slicing. Many of the concepts come from later iterations of 4G—so, they are not completely new, but form the foundation for the initial stages of 5G.

For this report, Frost & Sullivan defines 5G infrastructure to include the following:
·     Radio Access Networks
·     Transport Networks
·     Core Networks, which may include one or more Edge Networks

After introducing these three areas, this report focuses on 10 leading suppliers that are active in the 5G infrastructure market. While there are many more companies involved in 5G, these 10 have demonstrated leadership in the development and delivery of 5G infrastructure and solutions to the mobile communications market. Some of these suppliers are global, while a few have a more regional focus. All have some level of involvement and influence with the standards bodies that are defining where 5G is headed, and all of these suppliers are profiled in this report.