Spirent’s Report Focuses on 5G Trends

Spirent Communications released its fifth annual 5G outlook report on Tuesday, titled “5G 2024: Market Drivers, Insights & Considerations.” The results are based on over 500 new global 5G engagements in 2023, detailing the status of 5G and revealing trends, geographical differences, and future potential. 

“5G Standalone (SA) network deployments were delayed last year, in part due to the technical challenges of deploying and integrating new, cloud-native 5G Core technologies,” said Spirent’s Head of Market Strategy, Steve Douglas. “This year, however, we expect the market to pick up speed.” 

The most promising 5G trends  include the following:

• 5G SA and the new core – Spirent’s Landslide 5G core test solution was selected by over 30 operators – a strong indicator of commercial 5G SA acceleration in 2024. 
  • An emerging trend for 5G Standalone is that service providers are preparing controlled growth deployments. 
• 5G SA is a catalyst for digital transformation – The move to 5G SA is becoming a primary business driver for network and OSS digital transformation programs.
• 5G SA device and handset service experience testing – These engagements doubled with increased focus on the performance and experience of new services around immersive voice and video.
• Transport network testing – Leading operators began their 200/400G ethernet refresh cycles for IP Core backbones while 5G RAN deployments drove cell site gateway upgrades for 10/25G edge routers and the move to 100G at aggregation sites.
• Non-Terrestrial Network testing – New low Earth orbit satellite testing increased with a focus on delivering direct-to-device 5G services.
• Private 5G testing – Interest was piqued with early Release 17 capabilities, including reduced capability, while early commercial private network implementations were delivering a return on investment in as little as six months.
  • More than 40,000 private LTE/5G networks could be rolled out by 2027.

“For the first time, the demand for new 5G SA capabilities and the supply of network equipment and devices to enable them are finally aligned,” added Douglas. “Suppliers see a 5G market that’s ready to scale and demand for next generation 5G SA capabilities, and the journey to 5G Advanced is ramping up.”