Telecommunication network heavyweights Ericsson, Nokia, Huawei, and Samsung out radar'd rivals in Frost & Sullivan’s latest ranking of the market’s top 5G network infrastructure providers, but segment-specific vendors like Cisco, Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), Ciena, and Infinera also gained ranking recognition.

The leading quartet were all lauded for driving 5G innovation across their wide portfolio of 5G network infrastructure offerings. This includes radio access network (RAN) equipment, transport networks, and core/edge networks, with Frost & Sullivan noting the four held a combined market share in excess of 90 percent.

Ericsson and Nokia stood out as having a strong portfolio and presence in most Western 5G networks. Huawei and its smaller in-country rival ZTE dominate in China and many emerging markets, with Samsung noted as having a strong third-vendor presence in areas where China-based vendors are being squeezed out.

Large players vying for their piece of the pie

Outside of those top vendors, market strength is based on specific areas of focus.

Cisco was noted for offering core/edge and transport products in support of 5G network deployments and “also ranks highly in innovation.” This includes work on 5G-enabled edge gateways and network routing equipment.

HPE holds a similar 5G network support position, which Frost & Sullivan labeled as “infrastructure for the infrastructure.” This includes “hardware that underlies the telco cloud and software network functions for core and edge networks.”

HPE is in line to expand that presence to routers and switches should its pending $14 billion Juniper Networks acquisition gain government approval. HPE last year did sell off some of its legacy telecom assets but with the notion of focusing on what CFO Marie Myers said were “markets most relevant to customers’ needs across edge, hybrid cloud and [artificial intelligence].”

Ciena 5G network infrastructure role is linked to transport links that transmit the growing flood of information between end points. This is a similar position to Infinera, which could get a boost following its recent acquisition by Nokia.

Dell’Oro Group in a recent report noted that Nokia ended last year as the transport market’s No. 3 vendor, with Infinera at No. 5. Their combined market share puts them on equal footing with the market’s No. 2 player Ciena, and closer to market heavyweight Huawei.

Overall, Frost & Sullivan predicts communication service providers will slowly increase their 5G network infrastructure spend at a 2-percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the next five years. This will be focused mainly only RAN equipment, with “smaller spend on transport and core networks.”

This modest forecast is more ambitious than some, which have pointed to an actual contraction in telecom-focused network infrastructure spend. MTN Consulting is predicting telecom capex will drop from $314 billion in 2023 to around $280 billion in 2028.