The global cloud and centralized radio access network (C-RAN) market was valued at $936.3 million in 2018, and it is predicted to reach a revenue of $2,159.2 million by 2024. According to the estimates of the market research firm, P&S Intelligence, the market will progress at a CAGR of 15.9% from 2019 to 2024 (forecast period). The market is being propelled by the growing focus of industries on automation, increasing adoption of the 5G technology, rising digitalization rate, soaring use of smartphones, and mushrooming requirement for internet of things (IoT) services and solutions.
Many telecom operators are increasingly shifting toward advanced technologies in order to scale up their operations and network capabilities. Moreover, many service providers are increasingly focusing on transforming RAN in order to cater to the soaring consumer requirement for 5G solutions and services. According to various reports, telecom companies made an investment of more than $140 billion for expanding and upgrading their existing network. Furthermore, the total number of 5G subscribers is predicted to rise from 1.6 billion in 2018 to more than 1.9 billion by the end of 2019.
Additionally, many organizations around the world are increasingly using cloud computing for legacy and new systems. The incorporation of C-RAN solutions mitigates the cost burden on businesses, as these solutions do not need hardware maintenance and installation. Moreover, these solutions enable people to work from different locations and devices on a single platform, which consequently streamlines various business processes. Depending on deployment, the C-RAN market is divided into indoor and outdoor categories.
Between these, the indoor category is expected to demonstrate faster growth in the market in the forthcoming years. This is ascribed to the burgeoning need for improved network coverage in various indoor environments, including residential areas and office spaces. The market is also categorized, on the basis of component, into services, solution, and infrastructure. Out of these, the services category is predicted to exhibit the highest growth rate in the market in the upcoming years. This is credited to the increasing use of software-based solutions, which is fueling the need for professional services.
As the technology is new, there is a high demand for associated services, such as network support, security check, and training. During the last few years, the C-RAN market was dominated by North America, owing to the huge investments in advanced technologies, large-scale adoption of the 5G technology, and high LTE network coverage in the region. Moreover, telecom operators in Canada and the U.S. are focusing on making huge investments in technologically advanced infrastructure and research and development (R&D) projects for the adoption of new solutions.
Whereas, the C-RAN market is expected to demonstrate the highest growth rate in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region in the forthcoming years. This is attributed to the growing deployment of the LTE network technology and increasing requirement for 5G network in the region. In addition, the soaring number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) is also pushing up the requirement for scalable and cost-effective networks, which is, in turn, fueling the advancement of the industry in the region.
Thus, the market will grow substantially in the coming years, mainly because of the rising penetration of the 5G technology and rapid digitization all over the world.
