True 5G network launches using a standalone (SA) core continue at a snail’s pace due to the industry’s inability to produce compelling use and business cases, according to a recent report from LightCounting Market Research.

The firm noted that ongoing “headwinds” have limited the deployment of 5G SA networks to just 20 at the end of last year. This was just 10% of the 200 5G non-standalone (NSA) commercial networks deployed worldwide.

Those headwinds are led by “the lack of 5G business cases beyond enhanced mobile broadband combined with some network architecture issues” that continue “to inhibit 5GC SBA [5G core service-based architecture] rollouts.”

“Communications service providers are just sweating their EPC/vEPC [evolved packet core/virtualized evolved packet core] assets, in such conditions, there is no rush to move to 5GC SBA,” the firm explained.

A similar report from Dell’Oro Group noted that only three new 5G SA networks were launched during the first half of the year (Dish in the U.S., KDDI in Japan, and China Broadnet), bringing the market total to just 27.

Commercial 5G NSA networks rely on an operator’s legacy 4G LTE core for base processing and routing. A 5G SA core, which consists of the user plane, control plane, and shared data layer network functions, allows operators to deliver a more resilient core network and support highly-touted 5G services like network slicing, automation, orchestration, and mobile edge computing.

Domestically, only T-Mobile US and Dish Network have launched 5G SA cores.

T-Mobile US was the world’s first, launching its 5G SA core in mid-2020, and just beating out SK Telecom. T-Mobile US has since expanded that SA network to support voice traffic.

Dish launched its multivendor, greenfield 5G SA core network and commercial service in June.

AT&T and Verizon have both repeatedly delayed their plans.

AT&T had initially said it planned to launch its 5G SA core in 2020, but pushed those plans due to technology maturity. A company executive recently noted that AT&T was continuing to test the technology in lab environments.

“We’ve always said we’re going to deploy this 5G when the ecosystem is ready,” Marachel Knight, SVP of technology and planning operations at AT&T Communications, said during a fireside chat at the recent ConnectX event. “Are there devices there to take advantage of that? So, it’s a very methodical approach for us.”

Verizon previously pledged full commercialization of its 5G core in 2021, but it missed that deadline and pushed it back to 2022. However, wireless customers won’t gain access to SA mode on the 5G core until 2023.