V-RAN Market Size, Share, Opportunities, And Trends By Spectrum Band (Sub-6 GHz, MmWave), By Architecture (CU, DU, RU, Others), And By Geography - Forecasts From 2024 To 2029

The V-RAN market is expected to grow to US$4,991.077 billion in 2029 from US$824.949 billion in 2022 at a CAGR of 29.32%.

GROWTH DRIVERS

• The benefits of virtualized RAN are driving its market demand.

Virtualized radio access network (vRAN) is based on a future-proof approach. It satisfies the evolving network technology needs by reducing the OPEX and CAPEX operational and capital costs associated with network operations, deployment, and operation. It allows network functions from multiple vendors to run on the same hardware, thereby granting the service provider higher flexibility.

The growing transition towards high-speed scalable networks, especially in urban areas, is driving the demand for vRAN architecture. Hence, various strategic collaborations and trials are being implemented. For instance, in February 2024, Ericsson, in collaboration with e& UAE, conducted a cloud RAN trial in UAE, which relied on a 5G non-standalone solution that was deployed on massive MIMO radio. The trial aligned with the Cloud RAN MOU signed between the two companies and aimed to create USE’s interest in virtualization technologies for the 5G network.  

• Operation on the common platform instead of dedicated hardware

vRAN establishes an end-to-end single uniform platform for multiple vendors that can provide them with substantial advantages across the core network, CU, DU, and edge applications such as mobile edge computing, thereby increasing the synergies and an improved return on investment for vRAN.

The key market players are investing to make their product offerings comprehensive to meet the diverse consumer range. For instance, in February 2024, Samsung Electronics formed a collaboration with Wind River and Juniper Network to develop a virtual cell site router (vCSR) that would enable operators to operate their networks on end-to-end virtualization. The solution further ensures sustainability, flexibility, and time to market for new service introduction.  

• Implementation of software-based cloud technology

Software-based virtualized cloud technology offers higher scalability and flexibility in terms of speed and network deployment, enabling operators to add new features and deploy them to a system as needed. Moreover, vRAN can adapt to network changes by enabling the admin to apply for continuous updates, thereby scaling and de-scaling the network resources as per the changing demand.

Additionally, the software upgrade has minimized the reliance on proprietary hardware, thereby providing a new approach to software and hardware integration. Likewise, cloud-native vRAN solutions simplify maintenance by enabling the monitoring of key performance indicators

• Lower operational and maintenance costs have stimulated the market demand for 5G vRAN.

Virtualized radio access network (vRAN) simplifies overall network management by integrating the uniform hardware, RAN, edge, and core network in a single platform, lowering the total operating and maintenance costs. Hence, companies are investing in enhancing their virtualized infrastructure that would segregate network operations from processing hardware thereby assisting the end-users or service providers in saving money on network maintenance.

Companies are investing in innovations, in February 2023, Fujitsu launched its new “5G vRAN” solution, which integrates the company’s virtualized CU and virtualized DU with NVIDIA’s GPU technology. The new product was developed under the “5G Open RAN Ecosystem” and would be used to process virtual base station and edge applications in an all-in-one configuration. The official availability was announced in March 2023 globally. 

Furthermore, according to Samsung’s white paper, a centralized RAN deployment-based vRAN is more economical than D-RAN as it reduces the OPEX cost by 25% and overall TCO reduction by 13%. Hence, vRAN architecture displays a new approach for enhancing the C-RAN flexibility by virtualizing the baseband’s functions.

EMERGING OPPORTUNITIES IN THE GLOBAL V-RAN MARKET

• DU

Based on architecture, the V-RAN market is divided into CU, DU, and RU. DU will constitute a significant share and is anticipated to grow at a constant rate, fueled by its high applicability in lower-level interfaces where it offers faster network performance and enhanced user experience and optimizes critical tasks related to network processing.

DU PRODUCT EXAMPLE

COMPANY NAME	PRODUCT	DESCRIPTION
Ericsson	Cloud RAN	Ericsson’s “Cloud Radio Access Network” is a cloud-native 5G solution that handles compute functionality and is ideal for communication service providers. The solution offers highly scalable software for a cloud environment and can run on any commercial off-the-shelf hardware.

 

GLOBAL V-RAN MARKET GEOGRAPHICAL PRESENCE

Geographically, the V-RAN market comprises some major nations, namely the United States, China, South Korea, Japan, and Germany. These countries are witnessing a significant rise in demand for high-speed network access, which has led to the implementation of various investments and strategic maneuvers. Additionally, the market players are also showing active participation in vRAN deployment and product developments, with a couple of them listed below:

• In December 2022, Samsung completed the deployment of 10,000 vRAN sites across the United States which the company achieved by collaboration with telecom operator Verizon. Before this, the company reached the milestone of reaching 8,000 installations three months back. Through installation, Samsung bolsters Verizon’s journey to achieve a virtualized network that uses standardized interfaces that provide better network performance than traditional hardware RAN.

MAJOR PLAYERS IN THE MARKET

Some of the leading players in the market include Ericsson, Verizon, and Samsung. These firms have undertaken various business strategies such as product launches, investments, and partnerships to expand their product offerings. For instance,

• In July 2023, Ericsson, in collaboration with Telstra, announced the launch of the former’s Cloud RAN technology to bolster Telstra’s commercial 5G network deployment in Australia and mark a breakthrough in the company’s ability to deliver next-generation 5G services. Implementing Cloud RAN involves the virtualization of Ericsson’s RAN baseband, which will decouple the centralized Unit (CU) and distributed unit (DU) to a central state, providing better resilience and autonomous capabilities.

V-RAN Market Scope:

 

Report Metric	Details
Market Size Value in 2022	US$824.949 billion
Market Size Value in 2029	US$4,991.077 billion
Growth Rate	CAGR of 29.32% from 2022 to 2029
Study Period	2019 to 2029
Historical Data	2019 to 2022
Base Year	2023
Forecast Period	2024 – 2029
Forecast Unit (Value)	USD Billion
Segments Covered	Spectrum Band Architecture Geography
Companies Covered	Fujitsu Samsung Qualcomm Technologies Nokia Mavenir
Regions Covered	North America, South America, Europe, Middle East and Africa, Asia Pacific
Customization Scope	Free report customization with purchase

 

The V-RAN market is segmented and analyzed as follows:

• By Spectrum Band
  • Sub-6-Ghz
  • mmWave
• By Architecture
  • CU
  • DU
  • RU
  • Others
• 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

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

5. GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS/POLICIES

6. V-RAN MARKET, BY SPECTRUM BAND

6.1. Introduction 

6.2. Sub-6 GHz

6.3. mmWave

7.  V-RAN MARKET, BY ARCHITECTURE

7.1. Introduction

7.2. CU

7.3. DU

7.4. RU

7.5. Others

8. V-RAN MARKET, BY GEOGRAPHY

8.1. Introduction

8.2. Americas

8.2.1. United States

8.2.2. Others

8.3. Europe, Middle East and Africa

8.3.1. Germany

8.3.2. UK

8.3.3. Others

8.4. Asia Pacific

8.4.1. China

8.4.2. Japan

8.4.3. South Korea

8.4.4. Others

9. RECENT DEVELOPMENT AND INVESTMENTS

10. COMPETITIVE ENVIRONMENT AND ANALYSIS

10.1. Major Players and Strategy Analysis

10.2. Vendor Competitiveness Matrix

11. COMPANY PROFILES

11.1. Fujitsu

11.2. Samsung

11.3. Qualcomm Technologies

11.4. Nokia

11.5. Mavenir

11.6. Cisco

11.7. NEC

11.8. Airspan

Fujitsu

Samsung

Qualcomm Technologies

Nokia

Mavenir

Cisco

NEC

Airspan