Operator spending on Radio Access Network (RAN) infrastructure is projected to remain steady over the next five years, with cumulative revenues reaching $160 billion globally between 2025 and 2029, according to Dell’Oro Group report.
Following two years of steep declines that erased nearly $9 billion in RAN equipment revenues, market conditions are now stabilizing. However, a strong rebound is unlikely in the short term due to the uneven pace of technology rollouts, Dell’Oro Group VP Stefan Pongratz said.
Spending trends reflect a gradual transition from LTE to 5G, with the overall RAN market expected to shrink at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of -1 percent. Continued investments in 5G will be offset by the sharp drop in LTE-related expenditures. While emerging architectures such as Open RAN, Cloud RAN, and AI RAN are gaining traction, they are not expected to drive overall market expansion.
Operators are increasingly focusing on capacity over coverage, which may limit spending if mobile data traffic growth slows more than expected. In such a scenario, capital expenditures could decline further as operators shift toward maintenance mode after completing 5G rollouts. Although 5G-Advanced will be central to the ongoing evolution of 5G, it is not anticipated to trigger a new wave of spending, with operators reallocating existing capex rather than increasing it.
Growth is likely to be concentrated in specific RAN segments, including 5G New Radio (NR), fixed wireless access (FWA), millimeter wave (mmWave), Open RAN, virtual RAN (vRAN), private networks, small cells, Massive MIMO, and AI-driven RAN. While traditional revenue drivers stagnate, these areas may offer opportunities for selective investment as operators tailor their networks to meet evolving user demands.
RAN partnerships
Orange France has partnered with Samsung on a virtualized and Open RAN field pilot in southwestern France. They completed the first 4G/5G Open RAN calls under this partnership and plan further expansion by end‑2025. Orange also extended its multi‑year contract with Nokia to upgrade its 5G radio network and trial Nokia’s Cloud RAN solutions.
O2 Telefonica Germany teamed with Samsung to launch its first commercial vRAN/Open RAN site in Landsberg am Lech, Bavaria, with plans to scale to additional sites in 2024 and beyond.
Bharti Airtel India signed a major agreement with Ericsson to deploy centralized RAN infrastructure and Open RAN‑ready equipment across its 4G/5G network in India, expected to begin in 2025. Airtel also entered a strategic partnership with SpaceX/Starlink, exploring satellite‑RAN integration to expand rural connectivity.
Reliance Jio India separately announced its own deal with SpaceX/Starlink to distribute satellite internet via Jio’s retail network, complementing Airtel’s partnership announced within days.
MTN Group and Airtel Africa jointly agreed to share network infrastructure—including RAN—in Nigeria and Uganda, aiming to reduce deployment costs and extend 5G coverage more efficiently.
Rakuten Symphony, Rakuten Group’s Open RAN division, announced MoUs with Cisco, Airspan, and Tech Mahindra to license its cloud‑native Open RAN platform and jointly resell or deploy Open RAN solutions globally.
Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indonesia) extended its partnership with Nokia through 2025–27 to expand 4G/5G coverage using Nokia AirScale RAN technology and AI‑enabled network upgrades.
At MWC 2025, Telkomsel Indonesia signed MoUs toward RAN and edge AI initiatives, including with Pegatron 5G around Open RAN smart manufacturing solutions and with ZTE on private networks and AI‑driven RAN transformation. Indosat also announced collaboration with Nokia and Nvidia to integrate AI‑RAN and shared compute infrastructure.
Baburajan Kizhakedath
