Description

This report focuses on the growth opportunities that the fifth generation of wireless technology (5G) makes available to communication service providers (CSPs) and their suppliers, specifically regarding the 5G network infrastructure that is required to enable 5G communications. 5G is designed to build upon 4G. The first iterations of 5G NR that arrived in select areas of the world in 2019 required existing 4G LTE infrastructure, called 5G NR Non-Standalone (NSA). The standards on which 5G is being built define 5G NR NSA as an interim step, but one that may be around for quite a while. Deployments of 5G NR Standalone (SA), which does not require 4G LTE legacy infrastructure, are becoming more common, but remain the minority of live 5G networks. 4G LTE networks are prevalent and established, which will likely lead CSPs to leverage that strong foundation and deploy both 5G NR NSA and 5G NR SA networks as they roll out 5G over the next decade. The global development and rollout of 5G is standards-driven. The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) standards organization is leading the technical development of 5G, a continuation of its involvement with previous generations of wireless communications technology, including 3G and 4G.

For this report, Frost & Sullivan defines 5G NR network infrastructure to include the following:
·     Radio access networks (RAN)
·     Transport networks
·     Core networks, which may include one or more edge networks

The 5G RAN network is moving to the cloud with little controversy; all telecom software now runs in the cloud, or eventually will. While the majority of 5G RAN deployments still involve solutions with some closed interfaces, the movement toward an open and virtual RAN appears unstoppable in Frost & Sullivan’s estimation. The 5G Core builds upon the experience of 4G, with everything in the cloud and an expanded supplier base. The 5G transport networks tie together the RAN and the Core.