The worldwide 5G network infrastructure market is expected to grow from approximately $528 million in 2018 to $26 billion in 2022, according to IDC's inaugural forecast for this market segment, and representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 118%.
The 5G network infrastructure market includes 5G RAN, 5G NG core, NFVI, routing and optical backhaul.
IDC expects 5G RAN to be the largest market sub-segment through the forecast period, in line with prior mobile generations.
In addition to 5G NR and 5G NG core, procurement patterns indicate communications service providers (SPs) will need to invest in adjacent domains, including backhaul and NFVI, to support the continued push to cloud-native, software-led architectures.
"Early 5G adopters are laying the groundwork for long-term success by investing in 5G RAN, NFVI, optical underlays, and next-generation routers and switches. Many are also in the process of experimenting with the 5G NG core. The long-term benefit of making these investments now will be when the standards-compliant SA 5G core is combined with a fully virtualized, cloud-ready RAN in the early 2020s. This development will enable many communications SPs to expand their value proposition and offer customized services across a diverse set of enterprise verticals through the use of network slicing," says Patrick Filkins, senior research analyst, IoT and Mobile Network Infrastructure.
The report, Worldwide 5G Network Infrastructure Forecast, 2018-2022 (IDC #US44392218), presents IDC's inaugural forecast for the 5G network infrastructure market. Revenue is forecast for both the 5G RAN and 5G NG Core segments and each of the three related sub-segments (NFVI, Routing Backhaul, and Optical Backhaul). The report also provides a market overview, including drivers and challenges for communications service providers and advice for technology suppliers.
