5G Small Cell Market Size, Share, Opportunities, And Trends By Deployment (Indoor, Outdoor), By Architecture (Integrated & Dual-Split, Single-Split), By Configuration (Standalone, Non-Standalone), By Type (Femtocell & Picocell, Microcell), And By Geography - Forecasts From 2025 To 2030

The 5G Small Cell market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 25.47% from US$5.260 billion in 2025 to US$16.312 billion by 2030.

Some of the factors driving the global 5G Small Cell market are key organizations emphasizing research and development activities and the growing demand for low-latency bandwidth connections. Additionally, the overall 5G market will grow during the forecast period due to the strong deployment of numerous small cells and macrocell base stations worldwide.

The increased business usage of the 5G network created a demand for small cell, especially in small and medium-sized industries. In October 2023, Nokia launched the Nokia DAC PW Compact for the private wireless connectivity needs of small and mid-sized industrial sites. This technology improved the business processes with a 60 percent reduction in energy consumption over Wi-Fi.   

Moreover, supporting government policies, such as Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) recommendations on the Use of Street Furniture for Small Cells and Aerial Fibre deployment, would play a pivotal role in network upgradation and expansion. Similarly, EE deployed over 1,000 small cells across the UK, marking 400 new deployments, including its first 5G sites, as reported in August 2024, installed in Croydon, London.

Further, the industry participants are forming strategic alliances and working together to expand the market for their goods and services and their availability across a range of geographies. For instance, in May 2024, MosoLabs unveiled Moso Canopy 5GID2, the first 5G indoor radio for private networks using the Qualcomm FSM200 5G RAN platform. MosoLabs is a company building solutions for LTE and 5G private and neutral host networks. This was the industry's first 3GPP Release 16 5G SA small cell platform supporting Industry 4.0. the collaboration between MosoLabs and Qualcomm would provide specific use cases across different vertical segments.

What are the 5G Small Cell Market drivers?

• Booming 5G Deployment

The rise in popularity of modern communication networks has resulted in a faster pace of enabling 5G technology deployment with a growing demand for high-speed bandwidth. Large countries are investing in network construction and starting the necessary plans. As a result, rising expenditures for 5G technology are also evident.

In October 2023, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry, as a way of supporting 5G deployment in rural areas, announced “The Spectrum Outlook 2023 to 2027”. Meanwhile, the 3800 MHz auction took place in October 2023, marking it as the third to enable 5G. Hence, the rising deployment of 5G connection is expected to propel the market for 5G small cell in the coming years.

In 2028, 5G will outpace other forms of mobile access technologies in terms of subscriptions. Nearly 5.6 billion subscriptions are projected by 2029, representing 60% of all mobile subscriptions. Projections show that North America will account for approximately 90% of 5G penetration by 2029, while Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) will rank second at 89%, and Western Europe will occupy the third spot at 86%.Moreover, according to the data from the International Telecommunication Union, the world’s population covered by 5G has increased from 31% in 2022 to 38% in 2023. This expansion increased the demand for 5G small cells for their low-power and short-range wireless transmission systems. This technology can easily cover small geographical areas such as shopping malls, businesses, homes, etc.

• The indoor segment is anticipated to hold significant market share in the projected period.

An indoor 5G small cell is a low-power, compact base station that improves coverage and capacity for 5G in offices, malls, hospitals, and airports. High-quality signals inside the buildings are achieved over penetrated losses off exterior walls, thereby granting high-speed, low-latency connectivity to users inside. Hence, supporting dense device usage inside buildings is cricital, allowing for reliable communication between IoT, smart buildings, and enterprise networks. They work with outdoor cells to ensure coverage of 5G can be availed throughout environments. Hence, with the increasing demand for enhanced networks in the workplace, the need for 5G indoor small cells will rise in the coming years.

Recent product launches and developments in the indoor 5G deployment segment are influencing the market in the projected period. For instance, in February 2023, Arctic Semiconductor, formerly known as SiTune Corporation, a leader in low-power, universal RF chipsets, launched a game-changing RF transceiver, IceWingsTM. This transceiver is powering a new universal 5G small cell infrastructure platform from Compal Electronics, one of the world's largest ODMs. Hence, such developments in the 5G small cell industry are fuelling the market for the indoor segment in the projected period.

Geographical Outlook of the 5G Small Cell Market:

• The United States is expected to hold substantial market share in the forecasted period.

The increasing demand for modern communication networks and high-speed bandwidth are boosting the market in the projected period. Additionally, the rising investment in the 5G technology market will also boost market growth. For instance, in September 2023, the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) invested US$25 million in advanced technologies and communication to operate securely through 5G networks.

Strategic partnership and collaboration among the 5G small cell players in the United States is propelling its market growth in the projected period. For instance, in September 2023, EnerSys, which is regarded as a global leader in stored energy solutions mainly for its industrial applications, launched its DPX Distributed Power Transport System. This system will accelerate 5G small cell deployment while also featuring the new EnShield Technology of the company.  

Additionally, the growing 5G deployment is a major market driver for the small cell market primarily due to the need for enhanced network coverage and capacity in densely populated areas. For instance, according to the Cellular Telephone Industries Association (CTIA), in 2022, there were nearly 162 million active 5G devices, almost double the number compared to 2021. 5G devices make up 1/3 of the total connections in the US, and by 2028, 91% of the total wireless connections will be 5G. Hence, such increasing 5G penetration in the country is positively impacting the 5G small cell market in the projected period.

5G Small Cell Market Scope:

Report Metric	Details
5G Small Cell Market Size in 2025	US$5.260 billion
5G Small Cell Market Size in 2030	US$16.312 billion
Growth Rate	CAGR of 25.47%
Study Period	2020 to 2030
Historical Data	2020 to 2023
Base Year	2024
Forecast Period	2025 – 2030
Forecast Unit (Value)	USD Billion
Segmentation	Frequency Range Network Functional Module Deployment Geography
Geographical Segmentation	North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific
List of Major Companies in 5G Small Cell Market	Altice Labs Cisco Systems, Inc. NEC Corporation Commscope Crown Castle
Customization Scope	Free report customization with purchase

The 5G small cell market is segmented and analyzed as follows:

• By Frequency Range
  • Low band
  • Mid band
  • High band (mmWave)
• By Network
  • O-RAN
  • V-RAN
  • C-RAN
• By Functional Module
  • Radio Unit (RU)
  • Baseband Unit (BU)
  • Central Unit (CU)
• By Deployment
  • Indoor
  • Outdoor
• By Geography
  • Americas
    • United States
    • Others
  • Europe, Middle East and Africa
    • Germany
    • UK
    • Others
  • Asia Pacific
    • China
    • Japan
    • South Korea
    • Others

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1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. Market Overview

1.2. Market Definition

1.3. Market Segmentation

1.4. Currency

1.5. Assumptions

1.6. Base and Forecast Years Timeline

1.7. Key Benefits for the Stakeholders

2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY  

2.1. Research Data

2.2. Assumptions

3. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

3.1. Research Highlights

4. MARKET DYNAMICS

4.1. Market Drivers

4.2. Market Restraints

4.3. Bandwidth Availability

4.4. Number of Users

4.5. Edge Computing and 5G Small Cell Overview

5. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS/POLICIES

6. 5G SMALL CELL MARKET BY OPERATING FREQUENCY RANGE

6.1. Introduction

6.2. Low band

6.3. Mid band

6.4. High band (mmWave)

7. 5G SMALL CELL MARKET BY NETWORK

7.1. Introduction

7.2. O-RAN

7.3. V-RAN

7.4. C-RAN

8. 5G SMALL CELL MARKET BY FUNCTIONAL MODULE

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Radio Unit (RU)

8.3. Baseband Unit (BU)

8.4. Central Unit (CU)

9. 5G SMALL CELL MARKET BY DEPLOYMENT

9.1. Introduction

9.2. Indoor 

9.3. Outdoor 

10. 5G SMALL CELL MARKET BY GEOGRAPHY

10.1. Introduction

10.2. Americas

10.2.1. United States

10.2.2. Others

10.3. Europe, Middle East and Africa

10.3.1. Germany

10.3.2. UK

10.3.3. Others

10.4. Asia Pacific

10.4.1. China

10.4.2. Japan

10.4.3. South Korea

10.4.4. Others

11. RECENT DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENTS

12. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT AND ANALYSIS

12.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

12.2. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix

13. COMPANY PROFILES

13.1. Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson

13.2. Altice Labs

13.3. Cisco Systems, Inc.

13.4. NEC Corporation

13.5. Commscope

13.6. Crown Castle

13.7. NXP Semiconductors

13.8. Airspan

13.9. Sercomm Corporation

13.10. Samsung

Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson

Altice Labs

Cisco Systems, Inc.

NEC Corporation

Commscope

Crown Castle

NXP Semiconductors

Airspan

Sercomm Corporation

Samsung