The vRAN (Virtualized Radio Access Network) Ecosystem 2017-2030: Global Spending on Virtualized Small Cells is Expected to Surpass $1 Billion Annually by 2020

Dublin, May 25, 2017 -- Research and Markets has announced the addition of SNS Research's new report "The vRAN (Virtualized Radio Access Network) Ecosystem: 2017 - 2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts" to their offering.

Global spending on virtualized small cells is expected to surpass $1 Billion annually by 2020.

The “vRAN (Virtualized Radio Access Network) Ecosystem: 2017-2030 - Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” report presents an in-depth assessment of the vRAN ecosystem including enabling technologies, key trends, market drivers, challenges, standardization, collaborative initiatives, regulatory landscape, deployment models, operator case studies, opportunities, future roadmap, value chain, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. The report also presents forecasts for vRAN investments from 2017 till 2030. The forecasts cover multiple submarkets and 6 regions.

vRAN refers to a RAN (Radio Access Network) implementation where some or all baseband functions are separated from the remote radio unit and run as VNFs (Virtualized Network Functions) on commodity hardware. This approach results in multiple operational benefits including but not limited to TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) reduction, performance gains and scalability. In addition, vRAN enables mobile operators to future-proof their networks for 5G upgrades.

At present, most vRAN investments are focused on virtualized small cells for targeted greenfield deployments, primarily in dense urban, enterprise and public venue environments. By virtualizing small cells, mobile operators can immediately evaluate the benefits of vRAN with no major impact on their larger macrocell RAN footprint. The market for virtualized small cells is expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 130% over the next three year period. By the end of 2020, SNS Research estimates that virtualized small cell deployments will account for a market worth over $1 Billion.

Key Questions Answered

The report provides answers to the following key questions:

- How big is the vRAN opportunity?
- What trends, challenges and barriers are influencing its growth?
- How is the ecosystem evolving by segment and region?
- What will the market size be in 2020 and at what rate will it grow?
- Which submarkets will see the highest percentage of growth?
- Is centralization a pre-requisite for vRAN implementation?
- What are the benefits and drawbacks of each baseband functional split option?
- How can vRAN reduce the TCO of RAN deployments?
- How can mobile operators future-proof their RAN investments for 5G upgrades?
- Who are the key market players and what are their strategies?
- What strategies should vRAN solution providers and mobile operators adopt to remain competitive?

Key Findings

The report has the following key findings:

- vRAN investments are expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 125% over the next three year period. By the end of 2020, estimates suggest that vRAN deployments will account for a market worth $2.6 Billion.
- At present, most vRAN investments are focused on virtualized small cells for targeted greenfield deployments and pilot engagements for macrocell coverage.
- Mobile operators are exploring multiple baseband functional split options for vRAN implementation, as they seek to ease the transition to 5G networks while reducing fronthaul costs.
- The ongoing 5G race is expected to significantly boost vRAN investments over the coming years. Estimates suggest that approximately $900 Million of all vRAN investments will be directed towards 5G networks by the end of 2020.

Topics Covered

The report covers the following topics:

- vRAN ecosystem
- Market drivers and barriers
- vRAN architecture and key functional elements
- Baseband functional splitting for vRAN implementation
- Fronthaul networking technologies and interface options
- Key trends including RAN slicing, RANaaS (RAN as a Service), neutral hosting and MEC (Mobile Edge Computing)
- TCO comparison between vRAN and conventional RAN architectures
- vRAN deployment models including Cloud RAN and virtualized small cells
- Mobile operator case studies
- Regulatory landscape, collaborative initiatives and standardization
- Industry roadmap and value chain
- Profiles and strategies of over 60 leading ecosystem players including vRAN solution providers
- Strategic recommendations for ecosystem players including vRAN solution providers and mobile operators
- Market analysis and forecasts from 2017 till 2030

Forecast Segmentation

Market forecasts are provided for each of the following submarkets and their subcategories:

Submarkets

- vRAN Radio Units
- vBBUs (Virtualized Baseband Units)

Air Interface Technology Segmentation

- LTE & 3G
- 5G NR (New Radio)

Deployment Model Segmentation

- Virtualized Small Cells
- Virtualized Macrocells

Regional Markets

- Asia Pacific
- Eastern Europe
- Middle East & Africa
- Latin & Central America
- North America
- Western Europe

Key Topics Covered:

1: Introduction

2: An Overview of vRAN

3: Standardization, Regulatory & Collaborative Initiatives

4: vRAN Deployment Models & Case Studies

5: vRAN Industry Roadmap & Value Chain

6: Key Market Players

7: Market Analysis & Forecasts

8: Expert Opinion - Interview Transcripts

9: Conclusion & Strategic Recommendations

Companies Mentioned

- 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project)
- 6WIND
- ADLINK Technology
- Advantech
- Airspan Networks
- Altiostar Networks
- Amarisoft
- Argela
- Aricent
- ARM Holdings
- Artemis Networks
- Artesyn Embedded Technologies
- ASOCS
- ASTRI (Hong Kong Applied Science and Technology Research Institute)
- Broadband Forum
- Broadcom
- BT Group
- Casa Systems
- Cavium
- China Mobile
- China Unicom
- Cisco Systems
- Clavister
- Cobham Wireless
- Comcores
- CommAgility
- CommScope
- Contela
- Dali Wireless
- Dell Technologies
- DT (Deutsche Telekom)
- eASIC Corporation
- EBlink
- EE
- Ericsson
- ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)
- EURECOM
- Facebook
- Fujitsu
- Hitachi
- HPE (Hewlett Packard Enterprise)
- Huawei
- IBM Corporation
- IDT (Integrated Device Technology)
- IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)
- Intel Corporation
- ip.access
- IS-Wireless
- ITU (International Telecommunications Union)
- JMA Wireless
- Kathrein-Werke KG
- KT Corporation
- Linux Foundation
- MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum)
- Mellanox Technologies
- Microsemi Corporation
- Mitel Mobility
- Mobiveil
- MontaVista Software
- MTI Mobile
- NEC Corporation
- NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks) Alliance
- Nokia
- Nokia Networks
- Nokia Technologies
- NTT Communications
- NTT DoCoMo
- NXP Semiconductors
- Octasic
- ON.Lab (Open Networking Lab)
- ONF (Open Networking Foundation)
- Orange
- OSA (OpenAirInterface Software Alliance)
- Parallel Wireless
- Phluido
- Qualcomm
- Quortus
- Radisys Corporation
- Ranzure Networks
- Rearden
- Red Hat
- Samsung Electronics
- SCF (Small Cell Forum)
- SK Telecom
- SoftBank Group
- SOLiD (SOLiD Technologies)
- SpiderCloud Wireless
- Sprint Corporation
- Sumitomo Electric Industries
- Sunnada (Fujian Sunnada Communication Company)
- Sunwave Communications
- Telecom Italia Group
- Telefónica Group
- TI (Texas Instruments)
- TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile)
- Vodafone Group
- Vodafone Hutchison Australia
- Vodafone Italy
- Xilinx
- xRAN Consortium
- Xura
- ZTE

For more information about this report visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/rgdgjf/the_vran

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