In recent years, investments in 5G engineering had skyrocketed, driven by 5G’s high reliability, low latency, high bandwidth, easy customizability, and strong support for a plethora of use cases. Telecommunication Service Providers (TSPs) and Telecommunication Equipment Providers (TEPs) invested significantly to expand 5G networks worldwide and devise new offerings to attract customers. Simultaneously, enterprises actively explored the transformative potential of private 5G for their businesses.

However, a shift occurred in the latter half of 2022. While TSPs accelerated network expansion, consumer migration to 5G was slow. Enterprises, despite actively exploring the possibilities of private 5G, hesitated to adopt it on a larger scale due to high capital costs and a limited number of credible success stories. These challenges, coupled with fewer monetization opportunities and recessionary macroeconomic environments, led TSPs and TEPs to contemplate strategies for generating returns on substantial investments. Nevertheless, certain subthemes such as network slicing, AI adoption, and standalone 5G networks, along with emerging themes such as Open Gateway, RedCap, and 5G-NTN, remained resilient and continued to attract investments.

In this report, we assess the 5G engineering market, identify key trends shaping the R&D space, and study the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead for 5G. The report also examines how providers align with the 5G engineering requirements of their customers and enhance their capabilities to become partners of choice.

Scope

• Industries: telecommunication, ISV, consumer electronics, and connected device ecosystems and private networks
• Geography: global

Contents

In this report, we examine:

• Enterprise Research and Development (ER&D) spending on 5G engineering and its distribution across geographies and market segments
• Key trends and investment themes influencing spending, such as the expansion of 5G networks, the adoption of private 5G, and the increasing significance of technologies and initiatives such as Open Gateway, 5G-NTN, open RAN, network slices, RedCap technologies, and AI
• The outsourcing landscape, assessing the growth of 5G engineering services and how providers are aligning themselves to meet market demands

Membership (s)

Engineering Research and Development

Outsourcing Excellence