RAN market holds steady while core revenue surges on 5G SA

RAN market holds steady while core revenue surges on 5G SA is profiled by BTW Media because published evidence links it to internet infrastructure, governance, operational dependencies, or market visibility.

• After two tough years, the global RAN market has flattened, signalling a return to equilibrium.
• Mobile core revenues grew by 14 percent year-on-year, driven by 5G SA migrations and 5G-Advanced deployments.

What happened: RAN flatlines while core revenues climb

New data from Dell’Oro Group, indicates that the global RAN (Radio Access Network) equipment market was essentially flat in the third quarter of 2025. This follows two years of steep declines, and Dell’Oro calls it a sign of stabilisation rather than recovery.

Dell’Oro’s figures exclude China, and when North America is also removed, a modest increase in RAN demand emerges. Growth in EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) almost offset declines in other regions. Stefan Pongratz, VP of RAN market research at Dell’Oro, suggests that while short-term RAN investment may remain muted, vendors see a long-term need to transform RAN from a simple connectivity layer into an “intelligence grid.”

By contrast, mobile core network revenues outside China rose by 14% year-over-year in Q3. More operators are migrating customers to 5G Standalone (SA), bolstering core spending. Dell’Oro notes that 72 operators have currently rolled out 5G SA.

There’s also a signal of growing 5G-Advanced deployments. Dell’Oro identified 12 operators that have commercially launched 5G-Advanced, including major players in China, the UAE, Malaysia, Australia, the U.S. and more.

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Why it’s important

The flat RAN market may seem underwhelming, but the stabilisation after multiple quarters of decline is a meaningful inflection point for the telecom infrastructure industry. Vendors have struggled, but the plateau suggests that capex could be bottoming out — potentially setting the stage for future growth. Meanwhile, the strong performance in mobile core signals that operators are increasingly prioritising 5G SA and 5G-Advanced as they seek to monetise more sophisticated network capabilities, such as network slicing and private 5G.

If this momentum continues, the core business could become the real growth engine for network vendors, even as RAN hardware faces tighter pressures. The rise of SA and Advanced core deployments could reshape the economics of 5G — moving it from a pure coverage play to a differentiated service platform. For vendors and operators alike, the key will be leveraging the core to deliver new, high-value features rather than simply scaling up radio cell counts.