According to the new analysis report, although people were worried that COVID-19 would slow the pace of 5G growth in the early days, the facts proved that the pandemic did not significantly affect 5G radio access network (RAN) investment.
It is even predicted that 5G RAN investment in 2021 will exceed LTE RAN investment, and 5G network investments will account for more than half of the total RAN investment in 2021.
Analysts Daryl Schoolar and Chris Nicoll said that the delayed 5G spectrum auction in 2020 will be held in 2021, which will stimulate the growth of 5G deployments in 2021, and this part of the deployment is in addition to the existing 5G upgrade (referring to the existing 5G upgrade). Upgrade to 5G through software based on LTE network).
The report stated that, despite the uncertainty caused by the epidemic, even if mobile operators are not sure how to fully realize the return on investment, they are still building their 5G future.
From the perspective of technology trends, the 5G core is expected to rapidly evolve into a “one core” solution, which will become a key integration point for mobile networks by supporting 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G services.
Operators that use a single core instead of multiple specific technology cores are more suitable for network integration and migration to 5G, thereby reducing operating costs and capital expenditures in the next two to three years. For equipment vendors, those who have not yet launched a single-core solution are already one step behind, and may lose out to single-core equipment vendors in core network upgrades and implementation.
In terms of wireless access networks, the adoption of open and virtualized RAN is expected to accelerate. Dish Network will start its new mobile network in 2021, which will be the second evidence of large-scale support for open vRAN after Japan's Rakuten Mobile.
