日本語
It’s halftime for 5G and our annual 2025 5G report is out to recap key insights, wins, and what comes next.
As 6G becomes increasingly visible on the horizon, important 5G advancements shaping revenue growth opportunities are coming into sharper focus.
If the last five years were about proving what’s possible, 5G Standalone (SA) and now 5G-Advanced are gaining the traction required to finally unleash this mobile network generation’s capabilities at scale.
Telecom is now effectively driving automation, security, and monetization strategies around the globe, shoring up existing investments, and laying a solid foundation for what comes next.
The latest from 5G’s frontlines
While challenges remain, 5G progress has been persistent. During 2024, Spirent engaged in 415 new 5G projects across 138 customers, including service providers, network equipment manufacturers, and hyperscalers. This work spanned 5G Core testing and lifecycle automation, active service assurance, IP-Transport network testing, device and application service experience testing, and RAN and device RF testing.
This includes engagements with more than 50 operators on 5G SA and 5G-Advanced testing, indicating plans for expanding deployments during 2025.
With 5G SA ubiquity increasing, operators are intensifying security and resilience validation for cloud-native network functions (CNFs). We have observed that 3GPP's Security Assurance (SCAS) specifications and resilience testing is now a major priority for many.
At the same time, operators are integrating continuous testing into CI/CD pipelines to streamline 5G SA and 5G-Advanced lab-to-live rollouts and improve network agility. Automation is acknowledged as essential for managing 5G network complexity.
The trends driving 5G’s crucial second half
As a thriving 5G ecosystem materializes, its business case is maturing, with several key monetization drivers emerging as MVPs:
5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) is a star performer, expanding into urban markets and enterprises and enhanced bundled offerings with security, IoT, and AI-driven features
Private networks are gaining traction, with 5G Release 17/18 capabilities set to unlock the full potential for industries like manufacturing, logistics, and smart cities
5G RedCap (Reduced Capability) for IoT is right on time to more efficiently power smart grids, smart cities, and industrial IoT applications with reliable connectivity at lower cost
5G APIs are exposing network capabilities to third-party developers that are beginning to explore value in new abilities to build new business models and services
Network Infrastructure as a Service (NIaaS) is offering secure, scalable AI-driven networking solutions without outsized capital investments, centralizing capabilities and breaking down testing silos
Non-terrestrial networks (NTN) and the low-altitude economy are capably and cost-effectively expanding 5G connectivity into remote areas with satellites and aerial networks
5G revenue stars and future MVPs
On the FWA front, there have been more than 160 rollouts across more than 70 countries with more than 25 million global subscriptions, clearly proving healthy profit potential. The next phase of FWA growth will be driven by operators expanding into new markets like enterprise, multi-occupancy buildings, and edge computing while optimizing quality of experience for popular applications like gaming and video streaming.
Evolving architectures and early 6G developments
5G growth means more traffic demands on networks. Our report tracks the latest efforts to upgrade IP-Core networks to 400G and expand 25/100G capacities to edge locations, while also examining how Segment Routing (SRv6) is rolling out to support varied 5G and AI traffic needs.
Meanwhile, architecture enhancements are being designed with 6G in mind, as research and standardization efforts gain momentum. The report dives into how 3GPP Releases 19 and 20 are defining early requirements, with a focus on AI-driven automation, extended reality (XR), and next-gen security, while learning from 5G’s challenges and prioritizing simplified deployments and cost-efficient upgrades for a more seamless transition.
Get the full report now
Spirent’s 2025 5G Report is the definitive 5G halftime playbook for operators and suppliers, providing unique insights into where telecom 5G deployments stand and how to maximize the second half game plan to build toward future success.
