DUBLIN–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The “SON (Self-Organizing Networks) in the 5G & Open RAN Era: 2022-2030: Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” report from SNS Telecom & IT has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering.
The “SON (Self-Organizing Networks) in the 5G & Open RAN Era” report presents a detailed assessment of the SON market, including the value chain, market drivers, barriers to uptake, enabling technologies, functional areas, use cases, key trends, future roadmap, standardization, case studies, ecosystem player profiles and strategies.
The publisher estimates that global spending on RIC platforms, xApps and rApps will reach $120 Million in 2023 as initial implementations move from field trials to production-grade deployments. With commercial maturity, the submarket is further expected to quintuple to nearly $600 Million by the end of 2025.
Annual investments in the wider SON market – which includes licensing of embedded D-SON features, third party C-SON functions and associated OSS platforms, in-house SON capabilities internally developed by mobile operators, and SON-related professional services across the RAN, mobile core and transport domains are expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 7% during the same period.
The report also provides global and regional market size forecasts for both SON and conventional mobile network optimization from 2022 till 2030, including submarket projections for three network segments, six SON architecture categories, four access technologies and five regional submarkets.
The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report.
SON (Self-Organizing Network) technology minimizes the lifecycle cost of running a mobile network by eliminating manual configuration of network elements at the time of deployment right through to dynamic optimization and troubleshooting during operation. Besides improving network performance and customer experience, SON can significantly reduce the cost of mobile operator services, improving the OpEx-to-revenue ratio and deferring avoidable CapEx.
Early adopters of SON have already witnessed a multitude of benefits in the form of accelerated 5G NR and LTE RAN (Radio Access Network) rollout times, simplified network upgrades, fewer dropped calls, improved call setup success rates, higher end user throughput, alleviation of congestion during special events, increased subscriber satisfaction and loyalty, operational efficiencies such as energy and cost savings, and freeing up radio engineers from repetitive manual tasks.
Although SON was originally developed as an operational approach to streamline and automate cellular RAN deployment and optimization, mobile operators and vendors are increasingly focusing on integrating new capabilities such as self-protection against digital security threats and self-learning through AI (Artificial Intelligence) techniques, as well as extending the scope of SON beyond the RAN to include both mobile core and transport network segments – which will be critical to address 5G requirements such as end-to-end network slicing.
In addition, with the cellular industry’s ongoing shift towards open interfaces, virtualization and software-driven networking, the SON ecosystem is progressively transitioning from the traditional D-SON (Distributed SON) and C-SON (Centralized SON) approach to open standards-based components supporting RAN programmability for advanced automation and intelligent control.
The surging popularity of innovative Open RAN and vRAN (Virtualized RAN) architectures has reignited the traditionally niche and proprietary product-driven SON market with a host of open standards-compliant RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller), xApp and rApp offerings, which are capable of supporting both near real-time D-SON and non real-time C-SON capabilities for RAN automation and optimization needs.
Topics Covered
The report covers the following topics:
- Introduction to SON
- Value chain and ecosystem structure
- Market drivers and challenges
- SON technology, architecture and functional areas
- D-SON (Distributed SON), C-SON (Centralized SON), H-SON (Hybrid SON), RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller), xApps and rApps
- Review of over 40 SON use cases across the RAN, core and transport domains, ranging from ANR (Automatic Neighbor Relations) and rapid equipment configuration to advanced traffic steering, QoE-based optimization and automated anomaly detection
- Key trends in next-generation 5G SON implementations, including Open RAN and vRAN (Virtualized RAN) architectures, dynamic spectrum management, network slicing, edge computing, Big Data, advanced analytics, AI (Artificial Intelligence)/ML (Machine Learning) and zero-touch automation
- Case studies of 20 commercial-scale SON deployments and examination of ongoing projects covering both traditional D-SON/C-SON and RIC-x/rApp approaches
- Future roadmap for the SON market
- Standardization, regulatory and collaborative initiatives
- Profiles and strategies of more than 230 ecosystem players
- Strategic recommendations for SON solution providers and mobile operators
- Market analysis and forecasts from 2022 till 2030
Market Drivers
- The 5G & Open RAN Era: Continued Infrastructure Investments
- Optimization in Complex Multi-RAN Environments
- OpEx & CapEx Reduction: The Cost Savings Potential
- Improving Subscriber Experience & Churn Reduction
- Power Savings: Towards Greener Mobile Networks
- Alleviating Congestion With Traffic Management
- Enabling Plug & Play Deployment of Small Cells
- Growing Adoption of Private 4G/5G Networks
Market Barriers
- Complexity of Implementation
- Reorganization & Changes to Standard Engineering Procedures
- Lack of Trust in Automation
- Proprietary SON Algorithms
- Coordination Between Distributed & Centralized SON
- Network Security Concerns: New Interfaces & Lack of Monitoring
Key Trends in Next-Generation SON Implementations
- Open RAN & vRAN (Virtualized RAN) Architectures
- Small Cells, HetNets & RAN Densification
- Shared & Unlicensed Spectrum
- MEC (Multi-Access Edge Computing)
- Network Slicing
- Big Data & Advanced Analytics
- AI (Artificial Intelligence) & ML (Machine Learning)
- NFV (Network Functions Virtualization)
- SDN (Software-Defined Networking) & Programmability
- Cloud Computing
- Private 4G/5G Networks
- FWA (Fixed Wireless Access)
- DPI (Deep Packet Inspection)
- Digital Security for Self-Protection
- SON Capabilities for IoT Applications
- User-Based Profiling & Optimization for Vertical 5G Applications
- Addressing D2D (Device-to-Device) Communications & New Use Cases
SON Deployment Case Studies
- AT&T
- Bell Canada
- Bharti Airtel
- BT Group
- China Mobile
- Elisa
- Globe Telecom
- KDDI Corporation
- MegaFon
- NTT DoCoMo
- Ooredoo
- Orange
- Singtel
- SK Telecom
- Telecom Argentina
- Telefonica Group
- TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile)
- Turkcell
- Verizon Communications
- Vodafone Group
Conclusion & Strategic Recommendations
- Why is the Market Poised to Grow?
- 2022 – 2025: Transition From Traditional SON to RIC Platforms, xApps & rApps
- 2026 – 2029: Commercial Maturity of Advanced AI/ML-Based SON Implementations
- 2030 & Beyond: Towards Zero-Touch 5G & 6G Network Automation
- Competitive Industry Landscape: Acquisitions, Alliances & Consolidation
- The C-SON Versus D-SON Debate
- Evaluating the Practical Benefits of SON
- Prospects of Open RAN Standards-Compliant RIC Platforms, xApps & rApps
- End-to-End SON: From the RAN to the Core & Transport Domains
- Growing Adoption of SON Capabilities for Wi-Fi & Non-3GPP Access Technologies
- The Importance of AI & ML-Driven SON Algorithms
- Improving End User Experience With QoE-Based Optimization
- Enabling Network Slicing & Advanced 5G Capabilities
- Greater Focus on Self-Protection
- Addressing IoT Optimization
- Managing Shared & Unlicensed Spectrum
- Easing the Deployment of Private 4G/5G Networks
- Assessing the Impact of SON on Optimization & Field Engineers
- Strategic Recommendations
Forecast Segmentation
Market forecasts are provided for each of the following submarkets and their subcategories:
SON & Mobile Network Optimization
- SON
- Conventional Mobile Network Planning & Optimization
SON Network Segment Submarkets
- RAN (Radio Access Network)
- Mobile Core
- Transport (Fronthaul, Midhaul & Backhaul)
RAN Segment SON Architecture Submarkets
-
Traditional D-SON & C-SON
- Embedded D-SON (Distributed SON) Features
- Third Party C-SON (Centralized SON) & OSS Platforms
-
Open RAN RIC, xApps & rApps
- RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller) Platforms
- Near Real-Time xApps
- Non Real-Time rApps
- Mobile Operators’ In-House SON Tools & Systems
SON Access Network Technology Submarkets
- 2G & 3G
- LTE
- 5G NR
- Wi-Fi & Others
For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/cphkun
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