Dave Bolan

Research Director

Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) are in a digital transformation stage as they migrate to a Telco Cloud environment with the advent of 5G Standalone (5G SA) networks. 5G SA networks have more capabilities than any previous generation of mobile networks. The new 5G SA network architecture with Containerized Network Functions (CNFs) has this prerequisite design feature that enables 5G network functions to run in a Public Cloud These changes allow the MNOs to have a “web-scale” Telco Cloud that can expand and contract with user demand for differentiated services. At the same time, the 5G Core enables multi-access edge computing (MEC) opening the door for MNOs to deliver low-latency services for real-time and near-real-time enterprise applications.

This opportunity to serve enterprises with 5G connectivity has attracted the Hyperscale Cloud Providers (HCP) wishing to extend their services to enterprises embracing 5G for Operational Technology (OT), especially to enterprises that are already using HCP for IT workloads.

At the same time, the architectural shift to CNFs by the MNOs, allows hyperscalers to host the MNOs workloads for 5G Core, IMS Core, and vRAN on their network infrastructure in their respective public cloud networks.

To take advantage of the opportunities in this market, component manufacturers, equipment vendors, service providers, and financial institutions will find answers to critical business questions including:

  • What are the various solutions HCPs have to serve this market, with or without the MNOs?
  • What are the various ways MNOs can partner with HCPs?
  • What are the potential benefits and potential pitfalls of the various strategies, when it comes to Reliability, Security, Network Management, and Cost?
  • What is the timing and potential penetration of HCPs into MNOs networks?
  • Which MNOs are selecting to move their workloads to the public cloud?
  • What is the impact on existing vendors for Telco Cloud infrastructure?

The report includes a 5-year forecast for the following areas:

  • Software
    • 5G MCN – 5G Core (Control Plane, User Plane), Policy, and Subscriber Data Management
    • IMS Core: Session Border Controller, Voice Application Server, and Call Session Control Functions
    • Virtualized RAN (vRAN)
  • Infrastructure
    • Servers
    • Storage