Telecom operators stand at an important nexus point for SD-WAN deployments, a position that Analysys Mason noted in a recent report should allow those operators to reap significant growth opportunities.

The report claims that SD-WAN will be part of more than one-third of all business fixed connectivity revenue by 2030, and “offers more to operators than an opportunity to capture connectivity market share.”

“It can act as a platform for operators to upsell more services,” Analysys Mason Analyst Matt Small wrote. “Selling adjacent managed networking and security services such as SASE and SD-LAN solutions to existing SD-WAN customers is a natural extension of the trusted relationships that operators have created with businesses.”

Small explained that “operators are well placed to capture SD-WAN revenue growth because they can supply both the underlying connectivity and the overlay service in one package. This can be particularly appealing for [small-to-mid-sized enterprsie], which often want a single managed connectivity solution rather than separate connectivity and networking products. In addition, operators’ established SD-WAN portfolios with multiple vendors give them flexibility in meeting the demands of enterprises with more complex needs.”

That relationship is important as the research firm noted SD-WAN “represents a growth opportunity within this flat market.”

“SD-WAN adoption is increasing because it is able to meet business demand for more flexible networking solutions that improve performance when accessing cloud-based services,” Small added. “The share of business fixed connectivity revenue associated with SD-WAN is expected to increase from 20% in 2025 to over a third by 2030.”

Analysys Mason’s forecasts align with that from Dell’Oro Group, which earlier this year predicted cumulative secure access service edge (SASE) spending across secure service edge (SSE) and SD-WAN will reach $97 billion between 2025 and 2030, a level of spending three-times larger than what was spent on SASE during the first half of this decade.

The report added that SD-WAN “is evolving into the execution layer for enterprise security policy, determining how traffic is routed to cloud-delivered controls and where enforcement occurs. As security decisions move upstream, SD-WAN selection is increasingly influenced by its ability to align routing, performance, and visibility with centralized policy requirements.”

Telecom operators advancing SD-WAN

Telecom operators have been long-standing players in the managed SD-WAN space but have noted the increased opportunities.

André Almeida, who heads up T-Mobile US’ broadband, enterprise, and emerging business, recently noted that the market was going through a connectivity transition that could open up greenfield opportunities for T-Mobile US.

“There's a big transition of technology happening in B2B from traditional connectivity based on Ethernet and MPLS toward much more of an underlay-overlay split, where you start seeing more traditional internet connections being the baseline of connectivity, and then being complemented with SD-WAN and SASE [secure access service edge] solutions,” Almedia said during an earnings call earlier this year. “That's a huge opportunity because that allows us to get into that space without having to carry the legacy and the complexity of having to run complex support systems for customers.”

AT&T has also advanced its SD-WAN focus, announcing recently plans with Cisco to power a “quantum resilient” SD-WAN service that the carrier plans to launch later this year. The as-named Quantum Resilient SD-WAN service will offer post-quantum cryptology (PQC) running on Cisco’s 8000 Series Secure Router platform and will provide quantum resilient encryption, authentication, and secure boot capabilities, with PQC adhering to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards.

“As enterprises make long-term decisions about how their networks will support increasingly sensitive data, quantum-related risk can no longer be treated as a distant concern," Joe Petrocelli, VP of communication services at AT&T Business, noted in a statement. "By integrating post-quantum cryptography into our SD‑WAN offerings, we’re helping customers reduce their risk exposure and protect critical information for the future. Our continued collaboration with Cisco allows us to deliver business-grade connectivity that evolves alongside the security needs of highly regulated industries."