Open RAN Market Outlook (O-RAN) - An Opportunity Worth $32 Billion by 2030

Open RAN transforms Radio Access Network (RAN) technology from design to operation of the network. Open RAN creates the possibility of an open RAN environment, with interoperability between different vendors over defined interfaces. In a legacy mobile network ecosystem, RAN is proprietary where a single vendor provides proprietary radio hardware, software, and interface to enable the mobile network to function. RAN ecosystem is evolving towards proving competitive landscape of RAN supplier ecosystem and network operators embracing the transformation. Opening up RAN horizontally brings in a new range of low-cost radio players, and it gives mobile operators a choice to optimize deployment options for specific performance requirements at much better cost.

In December 2021, UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) announced that it has agreed with the four domestic operators to fulfill a goal to boost deployments setting a target of 35% of the nation's mobile network traffic is carried over open RAN by 2030. The department also increased funding of £30 million to a total of up to £51 million to back projects for trials of open RAN and next-generation technology. As per this latest market research, OPEN RAN Market is expected to cross $32 Billion by 2030 with a growth rate of 42% for a forecast period between 2022 and 2030. Services are going to be the key contributor for this market with 40% share in 2030.

Key Drivers

Open RAN is expected to accelerate the deployment of new network equipment and functions, with higher cost efficiency. The improved connectivity because of Open RAN is likely to have macroeconomic impact on GDP. Increase in mobile internet penetration and mobile data consumption are expected to be the major factors that would contribute to GDP because of Open RAN deployments. The ability to deploy networks with more flexibility and with higher cost efficiency will improve the economics of increasing mobile internet penetration, by enabling more cost-efficient deployment of coverage, and also by reducing price levels to offer affordable mobile internet services in low-income Markets.

Open RAN will reduce the total cost of ownership and will lead to greater price competition because an open platform lowers the barriers for new vendors to enter the market and enables operators to deploy network elements from a range of suppliers. A software-based network, in which some network functions are run on general-purpose cloud infrastructure, will be cheaper to deploy and run than an integrated platform. Further, expanding the number of suppliers engaged in developing RAN software will result in a broader skills base and lower-cost access to developer and lifecycle expertise.

OPEN RAN Market - Highlights

While 5G offers superior performance over 4G, both will coexist comfortably into the 2030s as the bedrock of next generation mobile networks. There are three perspectives that help to underline this point. Firstly, unlike voice-oriented 2G and 3G (which were primarily circuit-switched networks with varying attempts to accommodate packet-switching principles), 4G is a fully packet-switched network optimized for data services. 5G builds on this packet switching capability. Therefore, 4G and 5G networks can coexist for a long while because the transition from 4G to 5G does not imply or require a paradigm shift in the philosophy of the underlying technology. 5G is expected to dominate the OPEN RAN market with $22B TAM in 2030 with a growth rate of 52% as compared to 4G growth rate of 31% between 2022 and 2030.

Within Open RAN radio unit (RU), Small cells and macro cells are likely to contribute $7.5B and $2.4B TAM by 2030 respectively. It is going to be a huge growth of 46% from current market size of $327M for such cells in open RAN market.

Sub-6GHz frequency band is going to lead the market with 70% share for OPEN RAN although mmWave frequency band will have higher CAGR of 67% as compared to 37% CAGR of Sub-6GHz. Most focus has been on the 3.5 GHz range (i.e., 3.3-3.8 GHz) to support initial 5G launches, followed by mmWave awards in the 26 GHz and 28 GHz bands. In the longer term, about 6GHz of total bandwidth is expected for each country across two to three different bands.

Enterprises are adopting network technologies such as private 5G networks and small cells at a rapid rate to meet business-critical requirements. That's why public OPEN RAN is expected to have the majority share of round ~95% as compared to small market for private segment.

At present, it is relatively easy for greenfield service providers to adopt 5G open RAN interfaces and architectures and it is extremely difficult for brownfield operators who have already widely deployed 4G. One of the main challenges for brownfield operators is the lack of interoperability available when using legacy RAN interfaces with an open RAN solution. Still Mobile network operators (MNOs) throughout the world, including many brownfield networks, are now trialling and deploying Open RAN and this trend is expected to grow with time to have a larger share for brownfield deployments.

Asia Pacific is expected to dominate the OPEN RAN market with nearly 35% share in 2030. OPEN RAN market in Asia Pacific is expected to reach USD 11.5 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 34% between 2022 and 2030. Japan is going to drive this market in Asia Pacific although China will emerge as a leader in this region by 2030. North America and Europe are expected to have higher growth rate of more than 45% although their share will be around 31% and 26% respectively in 2030.

Open RAN vs Traditional RAN

RAN accounts for approx. 60% of total network cost and Open RAN presents an opportunity to reduce CAPEX. RU, CU, and DU built on open architecture will lead to reduction in deployment and operational cost as compared to traditional proprietary base stations in mobile network. Open RAN will result in more competition, vendor security, faster update cycle, and user benefits as new features can be added more quickly for end users, operators can provide enterprise level services to support industry 4.0.

Open RAN vs vRAN

In virtualized RAN (vRAN) also referred to as Cloud RAN, baseband functions, such as L1, L2, L3 and transport processing, are run by general purpose processors, on top of any commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) computing platform. Until now, baseband used to run in purpose-built hardware (HW) using either ASIC or CSSP (Custom Specific Standard Product) type of System-on-Chips (SoC). vRAN enables the baseband and radio software and hardware, and even different components of the software and hardware, to be supplied by different vendors.

	Open RAN	vRAN
Baseband Hardware	COTS-based BBU	COTS-based BBU
Baseband Software	Proprietary software	Open interface software
Radio Hardware	Proprietary RRU	COTS-based RRU
Fronthaul (BBU-RRU) interface	Proprietary interface	Open interface
Interoperability	Baseband software and radios must come from same vendor	Baseband hardware, software and radios can come from multiple vendors

48 Company Profiles

Technology Infrastructure Providers (21)
Ericsson	Nokia	Parallel Wireless
Samsung	NEC	Tata Consultancy Services
Alpha Networks	Airspan Networks	IBM
VMware	Fujitsu	Amdocs
Hewlett Packard Enterprise	Mavanir	Wind River Systems
Capgemini Engineering	Comba Telecom	VIAVI Solutions
CommScope	Dell	Tech Mahindra

Network Operators (17)
AT&T	Orange	Telecom Italia
NTT DOCOMO	Vodafone	Inland Cellular
Airtel	Reliance Jio	Etisalat
DISH Network	KDDI	Verizon
Rakuten	Telefonica	MTN
Optus	Deutsche Telekom

Semiconductor Vendors (10)
Intel	Qualcomm	Sivers Semiconductor
Xilinx	NXP Semiconductors	Picocom
NVIDIA	Analog Devices	Marvell
Renesas

Key Questions to be answered through this study

What is the market size and forecast of the Global OPEN RAN Market?

What are the driving factors and impact of COVID-19 shaping the Global OPEN RAN Market during the forecast period?

Which are the products/segments/applications/areas to invest in over the forecast period in the Global OPEN RAN Market?

What is the competitive strategic scenario for opportunities in the Global OPEN RAN Market?

What are the technology trends and regulatory frameworks in the Global OPEN RAN Market?

1. Introduction

1.1. Open RAN Timeline
1.2. Key components and interfaces of Open RAN
1.3. Open RAN architecture
- 1.3.1. RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) non-Real Time (non-RT) layer
- 1.3.2. RAN Intelligent Controller (RIC) near-Real Time (near-RT) layer
- 1.3.3. Multi-RAT CU protocol stack and platform
- 1.3.4. Multi-RAT CU protocol stack and platform
1.4. Open RAN vs Traditional RAN
1.5. Open RAN vs vRAN

2. Executive Summary

3. Open Ran Initiatives

3.1. Government initiatives
- 3.1.1. US
- 3.1.2. UK
- 3.1.3. Germany
- 3.1.4. Japan
- 3.1.5. South Korea
3.2. Industry led initiatives
- 3.2.1. O-RAN Alliance
- 3.2.2. Telecom Infrastructure Project (TIP)
- 3.2.3. Open RAN Policy Coalition
- 3.2.4. Open Networking Foundation (ONF)

4. Open RAN Drivers & Challenges

4.1.1. Key drivers for Open RAN adoption
- 4.1.1.1. Reduce Total Cost of Ownership
- 4.1.1.2. Reduce time to deploy new services and support new enterprise revenue
- 4.1.1.3. Improve scalability
4.1.2. Key challenges towards Open RAN

5. Economic Impact of Open RAN

6. Open RAN Integration Models

6.1. Mobile Network Operator
6.2. Managed Service Provider
6.3. Hardware and Software Vendors
6.4. System Integrators

7. Total cost of ownership

8. Market size & Forecast of Open RAN market, By Type

8.1. Open RAN RU, RF Power Output
- 8.1.1. Macro Cell
- 8.1.2. Small Cell
8.2. Open vRAN, Baseband
- 8.2.1. Centralized Unit
- 8.2.2. Distributed Unit
8.3. RAN Software
8.4. Services

9. Market Size & Forecast of Open RAN Market, By Frequency

9.1. Sub-6GHz
9.2. mmWave

10. Market Size & Forecast of Open RAN Market, By Radio Interface

10.1. 2G, 3G
10.2. 4G LTE
10.3. 5G

11. Market Size & Forecast of Open RAN Market, By Access

11.1. Public
11.2. Private

12. Market Size & Forecast of Open RAN Market, By Network

12.1. Greenfield
12.2. Brownfield

13. Market Size & Forecast of Open RAN Market, By Compliance

13.1. Partial
13.2. Full

14. Regional Analysis of Open RAN Market

14.1. North America
14.2. Europe
14.3. Asia-Pacific
14.4. Rest of the World

15. Competitive Landscape

15.1. Value Chain analysis
15.2. Key Players in Open Ran Market

16. Company Profiles

16.1. Infrastructure Providers
- 16.1.1. Ericsson
  - 16.1.1.1. Overview
  - 16.1.1.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.1.3. Key developments
- 16.1.2. Nokia
  - 16.1.2.1. Overview
  - 16.1.2.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.2.3. Key developments
- 16.1.3. Samsung
  - 16.1.3.1. Overview
  - 16.1.3.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.3.3. Key developments
- 16.1.4. NEC
  - 16.1.4.1. Overview
  - 16.1.4.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.4.3. Key developments
- 16.1.5. Alpha Networks
  - 16.1.5.1. Overview
  - 16.1.5.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.5.3. Key developments
- 16.1.6. Airspan Networks
  - 16.1.6.1. Overview
  - 16.1.6.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.6.3. Key developments
- 16.1.7. VMware
  - 16.1.7.1. Overview
  - 16.1.7.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.7.3. Key developments
- 16.1.8. Fujitsu
  - 16.1.8.1. Overview
  - 16.1.8.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.8.3. Key developments
- 16.1.9. Hewlett Packard Enterprise
  - 16.1.9.1. Overview
  - 16.1.9.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.9.3. Key developments
- 16.1.10. Mavenir
  - 16.1.10.1. Overview
  - 16.1.10.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.10.3. Key developments
- 16.1.11. Capgemini Engineering
  - 16.1.11.1. Overview
  - 16.1.11.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.11.3. Key developments
- 16.1.12. Comba Telecom
  - 16.1.12.1. Overview
  - 16.1.12.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.12.3. Key developments
- 16.1.13. CommScope
  - 16.1.13.1. Overview
  - 16.1.13.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.13.3. Key developments
- 16.1.14. Dell
  - 16.1.14.1. Overview
  - 16.1.14.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.14.3. Key developments
- 16.1.15. Parallel Wireless
  - 16.1.15.1. Overview
  - 16.1.15.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.15.3. Key developments
- 16.1.16. Wind River Systems, Inc.
  - 16.1.16.1. Overview
  - 16.1.16.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.16.3. Key developments
- 16.1.17. IBM
  - 16.1.17.1. Overview
  - 16.1.17.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.17.3. Key developments
- 16.1.18. VIAVI Solutions Inc.
  - 16.1.18.1. Overview
  - 16.1.18.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.18.3. Key developments
- 16.1.19. Tata Consulting Services
  - 16.1.19.1. Overview
  - 16.1.19.2. Key developments
- 16.1.20. Tech Mahindra
  - 16.1.20.1. Overview
  - 16.1.20.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.20.3. Key developments
- 16.1.21. Amdocs
  - 16.1.21.1. Overview
  - 16.1.21.2. Solutions offered
  - 16.1.21.3. Key developments
16.2. Network Operators
- 16.2.1. AT&T
  - 16.2.1.1. Overview
  - 16.2.1.2. Key developments
- 16.2.2. Orange
  - 16.2.2.1. Overview
  - 16.2.2.2. Key developments
- 16.2.3. NTT DOCOMO
  - 16.2.3.1. Overview
  - 16.2.3.2. Key developments
- 16.2.4. Vodafone
  - 16.2.4.1. Overview
  - 16.2.4.2. Key developments
- 16.2.5. Airtel
  - 16.2.5.1. Overview
  - 16.2.5.2. Key developments
- 16.2.6. Reliance Jio
  - 16.2.6.1. Overview
- 16.2.7. DISH Network
  - 16.2.7.1. Overview
  - 16.2.7.2. Key developments
- 16.2.8. KDDI
  - 16.2.8.1. Overview
- 16.2.9. Rakuten
  - 16.2.9.1. Overview
  - 16.2.9.2. Key developments
- 16.2.10. Telefonica
  - 16.2.10.1. Overview
  - 16.2.10.2. Key developments
- 16.2.11. Optus
  - 16.2.11.1. Overview
- 16.2.12. Deutsche Telekom
  - 16.2.12.1. Overview
- 16.2.13. Telecom Italia
  - 16.2.13.1. Overview
- 16.2.14. Inland Cellular
  - 16.2.14.1. Overview
- 16.2.15. Verizon
  - 16.2.15.1. Overview
- 16.2.16. Etisalat
  - 16.2.16.1. Overview
- 1.1.1. MTN
  - 1.1.1.1. Overview
1.2. Semiconductor Suppliers
- 1.2.1. Intel
  - 1.2.1.1. Overview
  - 1.2.1.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.1.3. Key developments
- 1.2.2. Qualcomm
  - 1.2.2.1. Overview
  - 1.2.2.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.2.3. Key developments
- 1.2.3. Xilinx
  - 1.2.3.1. Overview
  - 1.2.3.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.3.3. Key developments
- 1.2.4. NXP Semiconductors
  - 1.2.4.1. Overview
  - 1.2.4.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.4.3. Key developments
- 1.2.5. NVIDIA
  - 1.2.5.1. Overview
  - 1.2.5.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.5.3. Key developments
- 1.2.6. Analog Devices
  - 1.2.6.1. Overview
  - 1.2.6.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.6.3. Key developments
- 1.2.7. Renesas
  - 1.2.7.1. Overview
  - 1.2.7.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.7.3. Key developments
- 1.2.8. Marvell
  - 1.2.8.1. Overview
  - 1.2.8.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.8.3. Key developments
- 1.2.9. Picocom
  - 1.2.9.1. Overview
  - 1.2.9.2. Solutions offered
  - 1.2.9.3. Key developments
- 1.2.10. Sivers Semiconductor
  - 1.2.10.1. Overview
  - 1.2.10.2. Solutions offered

LIST OF EXHIBITS

EXHIBIT 1: Open RAN
EXHIBIT 2: Benefits of Open RAN
EXHIBIT 3: OpenRAN vs O-RAN
EXHIBIT 4: Open RAN timeline
EXHIBIT 5: Open RAN Components
EXHIBIT 6: Open RAN architecture
EXHIBIT 7: Key differences between Open RAN and Traditional RAN
EXHIBIT 8: Open RAN vs Traditional RAN
EXHIBIT 9: Key difference between Open RAN and vRAN
EXHIBIT 10: Not all vRANs are open
EXHIBIT 11: Open RAN Market, 2020-2030 (USD Billion)
EXHIBIT 12: O-RAN technical workgroup
EXHIBIT 13: O-RAN Focus group
EXHIBIT 14: O-RAN Alliance recent developments
EXHIBIT 15: OpenRAN Subgroups
EXHIBIT 16: OpenRAN project group recent developments
EXHIBIT 17: Recent Developments
EXHIBIT 18: Recent Developments
EXHIBIT 19: Degree of risk in deploying Open RAN for different scenarios before 2025
EXHIBIT 20: Economic impact of Open RAN Real GDP (USD Billion)
EXHIBIT 21: Economic impact of Open RAN Real GDP (USD Billion)
EXHIBIT 22: % of subscriber served with Open RAN network by 2030
EXHIBIT 23: Open RAN integration managed by operator
EXHIBIT 24: Open RAN integration managed by managed service provider
EXHIBIT 25: Open RAN integration managed by hardware and software vendor
EXHIBIT 26: Open RAN integration managed by integrator
EXHIBIT 27: TCO Model Assumptions
EXHIBIT 28: TCO for Low transport cost- Cell Profile 1
EXHIBIT 29: TCO for High transport cost- Cell Profile 1
EXHIBIT 30: TCO for High transport cost- Cell Profile 2
EXHIBIT 31: TCO for High transport cost- Cell Profile 3
EXHIBIT 32: TCO for High transport cost- Cell Profile 4
EXHIBIT 33: Per-bit TCO comparision
EXHIBIT 34: Open vRAN TCO savings
EXHIBIT 35: Services to dominate Open RAN Market between 2020-2030
EXHIBIT 36: Open RAN Market, By Offering, 2020-2030 (USD Billion)
EXHIBIT 37: Small Cells to account for largest share of Open RAN RU between 2022 and 2030
EXHIBIT 38: Open RAN RU Market , By RF Power Output, 2020-2030 (USD Billion)
EXHIBIT 39: Open vRAN benefits
EXHIBIT 40: Distributed Units expectedd to be major contributer in Open vRAN Market between 2020 and 2030
EXHIBIT 41: Open vRAN Market , By Baseband, 2020-2030 (USD Billion)
EXHIBIT 42: Sub-6GHz to dominate Open RAN Market between 2022 and 2030
EXHIBIT 43: Open RAN Market, By Frequency, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 44: 5G to dominate Open RAN Market by 2030
EXHIBIT 45: Open RAN Market, By Radio Interface, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 46: Public access to account for the largest share of Open RAN Market between 2020 and 2030
EXHIBIT 47: Open RAN Market, By Access, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 48: Brownflied to grow at CAGR in Open RAN Market between 2022 and 2030
EXHIBIT 49: Open RAN Market, By Network, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 50: Partial Open RAN deployment to account for larger share in intial phase
EXHIBIT 51: Open RAN Market, By Network, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 52: Open RAN trials and deployment by region
EXHIBIT 53: Asia-Pacific to dominate Open RAN Market between 2020 and 2030
EXHIBIT 54: Open RAN Market, By Region, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 55: US to account for the largest share of Open RAN Market in North America bentween 2020 and 2030
EXHIBIT 56: Open RAN Market in North America, By Country, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 57: Rest of Europe to grow at highest CAGR in Open RAN Market in Europe between 2020 and 2030
EXHIBIT 58: Open RAN Market in Europe, By Country, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 59: Japan to drive Open RAN Market in Asia-Pacific
EXHIBIT 60: Open RAN Market in Asia-Pacific, By Country, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 61: South America to account for the lragest share Open RAN Market in Rest of the World between 2020 and 2030
EXHIBIT 62: Open RAN Market in Rest of the World, By Region, 2020-2030 (USD Million)
EXHIBIT 63: Open RAN value chain
EXHIBIT 64: RAN Ecosystem