Dell’Oro Group’s latest Open RAN Report reveals that while Open RAN and Cloud RAN revenues are down in 2024, the long-term outlook remains strong. Open RAN is expected to surpass 25% of the total RAN market by 2029, as purpose-built RAN declines by 20%.

Stefan Pongratz, Vice President of RAN market research at Dell’Oro Group, stated, “Our long-term position remains mostly unchanged. Even with ongoing challenges and delays, we still anticipate that most operators will gradually incorporate more openness, virtualization, intelligence, and automation into their RAN roadmaps. At the same time, the impact will be mixed.” He noted that while O-RAN fronthaul interfaces are being adopted and Open RAN is leading to a shift towards vRAN/Cloud RAN, expectations for Open RAN to foster multi-vendor environments and reduce prices are diminishing.

Additional highlights from the February 2025 Open RAN Report include revised short-term projections due to a lower starting point and uncertainty around the transition from “O-RAN ready” to Open RAN. The report indicates that the transition to Open RAN is gradual, with varying benefits and challenges influencing adoption rates. Open RAN and Multi-vendor RAN are forecasted to capture more than 25% and less than 10% of the total RAN market by 2029, respectively, while purpose-built RAN is expected to lose roughly 20% in value.

North America and Asia Pacific are projected to drive around 80% of the vRAN market forecast.

The Dell’Oro Group Open RAN Advanced Research Report provides an overview of the Open RAN and Virtualized RAN potential, including a 5-year forecast for various segments and discussions on market drivers and risks.