Global and Regional Virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) Market Recent Development and Trends Based on Types, Applications, Regions and Players from 2024 to 2029

1. Virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) Market Trends

The global Virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) market size is $8614.29 million in 2024 with a CAGR of 83.59% from 2024 to 2029.

With the construction of the market ecosystem and the continuous innovation of technology in the Virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) field, cooperation has become the norm in the market. The market involves a wide range of fields, and the threshold for technological research and development is high. More and more leading companies choose to cooperate to improve the efficiency of product or service research and development and promotion. The RAN market has traditionally involved only a few players, but as the landscape shifts to an open paradigm, the number of players joining the open vRAN market is exploding—a very healthy development for a new kind of ecosystem. A strong group of active participants brings unprecedented innovation, open collaboration, and new ideas, all of which are vital to a 5G future that demands constant transformation and eager experimentation. Multiple vendors working together offer customers unprecedented choices in their vRAN solution. The Open vRAN should further evolve using advanced technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), with different optimizations and use cases. For example, AI/ML can be incorporated into the Radio Intelligent controller (RIC), scheduler, and beamforming. In addition, expect to see an Open vRAN evolution path to no terrestrial networks, with a global network based on satellites built around 5G Open vRAN architectures.

Global  Virtualized Radio Access Network Market Revenue (M USD)

2. Market Drivers

Development in the field of 5G

RAN virtualization is required for 5G networks. RAN virtualization is required for 5G networks 102 because the new generation demands more visibility, automation, and adaptability than hardware-based RANs can provide. The ability to scale and adjust the network to changing conditions is significant when the demands on 5G networks increase both from mobile phone users and, more significantly, Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The number of IoT devices is growing. And because many of the devices are interconnected with each other and with the larger network, data is being generated and transmitted at immense volumes. As such, mobile companies are collaborating with vendors in the virtualized RAN (vRAN) market to deploy virtualized mobile networks using cloud-based RAN platforms. Likewise, mobile companies are focusing on launching 5G networks to leverage cloud infrastructures. Containerized applications using virtualized RAN software have helped develop 5G services more responsive to consumer needs. Virtualized RAN solution providers are collaborating with world leaders in the IT industry to innovate in the cloud-native containerized radio access technology. A cloud-native microservice-based architecture improves the economics and scalability of 5G RANs for MNOs. With the development of the 5G field, relevant investments have been valued, which will promote the development of the vRAN market.

3. Market Challenges

The primary drawback of vRAN is that it uses proprietary interfaces between radios and other network elements, thereby locking the operator into a single RAN vendor. Despite their promise, existing vRAN technology continues to face barriers to wider adoption. For instance, vRANs that are not configured with dedicated equipment tend to have lower performance efficiency than conventional base stations. To maintain the same performance, more hardware must be built in, resulting in higher environmental loads in areas like power consumption. In terms of stability and redundancy, there have also been cases in which conventional vRANs cannot sufficiently guarantee carrier-grade communication quality. With the development of the industry, corporate competition will continue to overcome challenges and improve the development of the industry.

4. Market Segment

As for product types, the Platform segment holds the largest market share in 2024.

The platform segment will account for 53.56% of the global vRAN market in 2024, with a CAGR of 75.16% from 2024 to 2029. Reasons for the growth include the rollout of 5G technology, the trend towards network virtualization, and the increased demand for more efficient and flexible network solutions.

vRAN portfolio may include platforms for the Radio Unit (RU) Platform, Distributed Unit (DU) and when combined from the Distributed Radio Unit, made for smaller infrastructure designs. vRAN Platform may include all of the RAN software, virtual baseband unit (vBBU), and drivers needed for any RAN equipment manufacturer to integrate their RRUs with an established vRAN solution in a short period. The portfolio of vRAN platforms is designed to allow established and emerging network vendors to accelerate the development and commercialization of vRAN equipment and features that address the demand for an open, virtualized, and interoperable cellular infrastructure marketplace for both public and private networks.

The largest segment by application is the Enterprise in 2024.

The enterprise segment will occupy a significant market share in 2024, with a market size of $3110.76 million in 2024. The reasons for this growth include the increased demand for flexible, high-performance network architectures and vRAN’s advantages in reducing TCO (total cost of ownership) and improving network performance.

vRAN reduces base station capex and operating costs by allowing it to run on standard commercial hardware through virtualization technology. This increase in cost efficiency is particularly important for enterprises because it can help enterprises optimize their network infrastructure while maintaining competitiveness so that enterprises can dynamically deploy network resources according to business needs, and improve network operational efficiency and user experience. With the spread of 5G and IoT technologies, enterprises need network architectures that can support these new technologies. As a key component in 5G network architecture, vRAN can provide high-speed data transmission and low latency characteristics to meet the needs of enterprises for wireless access services. The acceleration of enterprise digital transformation has brought new development opportunities to the vRAN market. With its flexible and efficient wireless access solutions, vRAN meets the wireless access network needs of enterprises in their digital transformation process.

Market Size and Share by Segment in 2024

5. Regional Market

In global comparison, a significant portion of the revenue was generated in North America.

North America: The North America vRAN market is valued at $2855.64 million in 2024. Early 5G network deployments in North America are driving the demand for vRAN solutions. North America has a technologically advanced user base and growing demand for high-speed data and bandwidth-intensive applications, which is driving network operators to adopt vRAN to improve efficiency. The North American region, particularly the U.S. government, has pushed for open vRAN development to reduce dependence on Chinese suppliers and encourage the development of a broader vendor ecosystem through government funding, lab creation, and trial deployment.

Europe: European countries are actively investing in 5G infrastructure, creating opportunities for vRAN vendors, while governments are also pushing to open up the development of vRAN to foster a more competitive ecosystem and innovation, with a production scale of $2730.73 million by 2024.

Asia-Pacific: The Asia Pacific vRAN market is valued at $2,483.50 million in 20224, with the rapid expansion of the mobile subscriber base in Asia Pacific and the increasing demand for high-speed Internet making Asia Pacific a promising market for the vRAN market. The rapid adoption of 5G technology in the Asia Pacific, especially South Korea, China, and Japan, is driving the vRAN market.

The Chinese government’s policy support for the 5G and IoT industries provides a strong guarantee for the development of the vRAN market. By formulating a series of policies and plans, the government encourages enterprises to increase investment and research and development efforts in the field of 5G and the Internet of Things and promotes the rapid development of related industries.

Global Virtualized Radio Access Network Market Size (M USD) by Region in 2024

6. Major Players

SAMSUNG: Samsung specializes in the production of a wide variety of consumer and industry electronics, including appliances, digital media devices, semiconductors, memory chips, and integrated systems. SAMSUNG is one of the major players operating in the Virtualized Radio Access Network (vRAN) market, holding a share of 18.87% in 2024.

Alcatel-Lucent (Nokia): Nokia is a Finnish multinational communications corporation engaged in the manufacturing of mobile devices and network infrastructure.

Altiostar: Altiostar Networks is a company that provides 4G and 5G open virtualized radio access network (open vRAN) software. It provides network intelligence solutions as well as a software platform, baseband, and radio equipment products.

NEC: NEC Corporation operates as a provider of information and communication technology solutions in Japan and internationally. The company operates in five segments: Public Solutions, Public Infrastructure, Enterprise, Network Services, and Global.

Mavenir: Mavenir is an American telecommunications software company, created in 2017 as a result of a three-way merger of existing companies and technologies, that develops and supplies cloud-native software to the communications service provider (CSP) market. Mavenir PLC operates as a software company. The Company provides cloud-native network software and solutions and systems integration for 4G and 5G and focuses on software network transformation for communications service providers (CSPs). Mavenir serves customers worldwide.

7. Market Recent Development

In February 2024 – NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) together with Arm, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., Red Hat, and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) successfully demonstrated the end-to-end operation of NEC’s Open virtual Radio Access Network (vRAN) and 5G Core virtual User Plane Function (vUPF) products using the HPE ProLiant servers running Arm® Neoverse™-based CPUs and the Qualcomm® X100 5G RAN Accelerator Card, with Red Hat OpenShift in conditions equivalent to a commercial environment. The collaboration led to a successfully integrated and demonstrable solution that is optimized for total cost of ownership (TCO) and power efficiency for both edge and data centers.

In February 2024, Samsung Electronics Co., LTD., Juniper Networks, and Wind River partnered to develop a Virtual Cellular Site Router (vCSR) that allows service providers to operate their networks in end-to-end virtualization. This software-based network ensures more flexibility, agility, sustainability, and faster time to market (TTM) to introduce new services.

Major Players