5G Core Market Global Report 2026

The 5g core market size has grown exponentially in recent years. It will grow from $10.52 billion in 2025 to $13.07 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 24.2%. The growth in the historic period can be attributed to increasing mobile data traffic, expansion of LTE infrastructure, rising smartphone penetration, growing demand for low-latency connectivity, and telecom network modernization initiatives.

The 5g core market size is expected to see exponential growth in the next few years. It will grow to $28.9 billion in 2030 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.9%. The growth in the forecast period can be attributed to the global rollout of 5G networks, increasing adoption of private 5G, expanding IoT connectivity, rising demand for ultra-reliable low-latency services, and the expansion of cloud-based telecom platforms. Major trends in the forecast period include cloud-native core network deployment, implementation of network slicing, expansion of virtualized network functions, integration of edge technologies with core architectures, and adoption of service-based network architectures.

The explosion of data traffic is expected to drive the growth of the 5G core market moving forward. Data traffic refers to network traffic, which represents the volume of data transmitted through a network at a specific point in time. Utilizing 5G Core for data traffic management provides various advantages, including enhanced network capabilities, service exposure, and traffic steering features. These benefits provide additional tools for optimizing traffic management and enabling efficient data traffic handling. For instance, according to a report published by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, a Sweden-based provider of IT services, global mobile data traffic reached approximately 90 EB per month in 2022 and is projected to increase nearly fourfold, reaching 325 EB per month by 2028. Therefore, the explosion of data traffic is driving increased utilization of the 5G core.

Major companies operating in the 5G core market are increasingly focusing on developing advanced solutions such as core network-as-a-service (CNaaS) to improve deployment flexibility and cost efficiency. Core network-as-a-service is a cloud-based model in which the operator provides the complete 5G core infrastructure in a managed, scalable, and on-demand manner, rather than requiring the operator to build and host the infrastructure itself, thereby reducing upfront investment and accelerating deployment. For instance, in March 2025, Orange S.A, a France-based telecommunication company, launched its 5G CNaaS solution featuring a fully managed, cloud-based 5G core infrastructure that enables mobile operators of any size to deploy 5G standalone (SA) networks more quickly and at lower cost. Key features of the launched product include simplified deployment, eliminating the need for mobile operators to build or maintain their own core network infrastructure; a pay-as-you-grow model, enabling operators to scale services based on demand without minimum size requirements; comprehensive management, with Orange managing updates and security compliance so that mobile operators can concentrate on expanding their radio coverage; and the inclusion of essential services such as IPX connectivity for data integrity and roaming, real-time signalling for SS7/LTE/5G SA traffic visibility, coverage and roaming services for global connectivity, and value-added big data analytics for network optimisation.

In February 2023, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, a US-based global provider of IT services, acquired Athonet srl. The acquisition of Athonet's technology will allow HPE to deliver private networking capabilities directly to enterprises through its Aruba networking portfolio, while also enabling communications service providers (CSPs) to rapidly deploy private 5G networks for their customers. Athonet srl is an Italy-based telecommunications service provider.

Major companies operating in the 5g core market are Nokia Corporation, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., ZTE Corporation, NEC Corporation, Cisco Systems Inc., Oracle Corporation, Mavenir Systems Inc., Druid Software Ltd., Athonet, IPLOOK Technologies, Casa Systems Inc., NetNumber Inc., Cumucore, VMware Inc., Fujitsu Limited, Ribbon Communications Inc., Parallel Wireless Pvt. Ltd., Datang Telecom Group.

Asia-Pacific was the largest region in the 5G core market in 2025. Asia-Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the global 5G core market report during the forecast period. The regions covered in the 5g core market report are Asia-Pacific, South East Asia, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East, Africa.

The countries covered in the 5g core market report are Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Russia, South Korea, UK, USA, Canada, Italy, Spain.

The 5G core market includes revenues earned by entities through services such as service-based architecture and cloud-based architecture. The market value includes the value of related goods sold by the service provider or included within the service offering. Only goods and services traded between entities or sold to end consumers are included.

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