Network complexity, 5G rollouts will drive SON (Self-Organizing Network) spending to $5.5 Billion, says SNS Telecom & IT

SNS Telecom & IT‘s latest report indicates that the growing complexity of mobile networks and 5G NR (New Radio) infrastructure rollouts will drive SON (Self-Organizing Network) spending to $5.5 Billion by 2022.

SON technology minimizes the lifecycle cost of running a mobile network by eliminating manual configuration of network elements at the time of deployment, right through to dynamic optimization and troubleshooting during operation. Besides improving network performance and customer experience, SON can significantly reduce the cost of mobile operator services, improving the OpEx-to-revenue ratio and deferring avoidable CapEx.

To support their LTE and HetNet deployments, early adopters of SON have already witnessed a spate of benefits – in the form of accelerated rollout times, simplified network upgrades, fewer dropped calls, improved call setup success rates, higher end-user throughput, alleviation of congestion during special events, increased subscriber satisfaction and loyalty, and operational efficiencies – such as energy and cost savings, and freeing up radio engineers from repetitive manual tasks.

Although SON was originally developed as an operational approach to streamline cellular RAN (Radio Access Network) deployment and optimization, mobile operators and vendors are increasingly focusing on integrating new capabilities such as self-protection against digital security threats, and self-learning through artificial intelligence techniques, as well as extending the scope of SON beyond the RAN to include both mobile core and transport network segments – which will be critical to address 5G requirements such as end-to-end network slicing. In addition, dedicated SON solutions for Wi-Fi and other access technologies have also emerged, to simplify wireless networking in home and enterprise environments.

Largely driven by the increasing complexity of today’s multi-RAN mobile networks – including network densification and spectrum heterogeneity, as well as 5G NR infrastructure rollouts, global investments in SON technology are expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 11% between 2019 and 2022. By the end of 2022, SNS Telecom & IT estimates that SON will account for a market worth $5.5 Billion.

The “SON (Self-Organizing Networks) in the 5G Era: 2019 – 2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” report presents an in-depth assessment of the SON and associated mobile network optimization ecosystem, including market drivers, challenges, enabling technologies, functional areas, use cases, key trends, standardization, regulatory landscape, mobile operator case studies, opportunities, future roadmap, value chain, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. The report also presents revenue forecasts for both SON and conventional mobile network optimization, along with individual projections for 10 SON submarkets, and 6 regions from 2019 till 2030.

The key findings of the report include:

• Largely driven by the increasing complexity of today’s multi-RAN mobile networks – including network densification and spectrum heterogeneity, as well as 5G NR (New Radio) infrastructure rollouts, global investments in SON technology are expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 11% between 2019 and 2022. By the end of 2022, SNS Telecom & IT estimates that SON will account for a market worth $5.5 Billion.
• Based on feedback from mobile operators worldwide, the growing adoption of SON technology has brought about a host of practical benefits for early adopters – ranging from more than a 50% decline in dropped calls and reduction in network congestion during special events by a staggering 80% to OpEx savings of more than 30% and an increase in service revenue by 5-10%.
• In addition, SON mechanisms are playing a pivotal role in accelerating the adoption of 5G networks – through the enablement of advanced capabilities such as network slicing, dynamic spectrum management, predictive resource allocation, and the automated of deployment of virtualized 5G network functions.
• To better address network performance challenges amidst increasing complexity, C-SON platforms are leveraging an array of complementary technologies – from artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms to Big Data technologies and the use of alternative data such as information extracted from crowd-sourcing tools.
• In addition to infrastructure vendor and third-party offerings, mobile operator developed SON solutions are also beginning to emerge. For example, Elisa has developed a SON platform based on closed-loop automation and customizable algorithms for dynamic network optimization. Through a dedicated business unit, the Finnish operator offers its in-house SON implementation as a commercial product to other mobile operators.

For further information concerning the SNS Telecom & IT publication “SON (Self-Organizing Networks) in the 5G Era: 2019 – 2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” please visit: https://www.snstelecom.com/son

For a sample please contact:

Email: info@snstelecom.com

Notes for Editors

If you are interested in a more detailed overview of this report, please send an e-mail to info@snstelecom.com

About SNS Telecom & IT

Part of the SNS Worldwide group, SNS Telecom & IT is a global market intelligence and consulting firm with a primary focus on the telecommunications and information technology industries. Developed by in-house subject matter experts, our market intelligence and research reports provide unique insights on both established and emerging technologies. Our areas of coverage include but are not limited to wireless networks, 5G, LTE, SDN (Software Defined Networking), NFV (Network Functions Virtualization), IoT (Internet of Things), critical communications, big data, smart cities, smart homes, consumer electronics, wearable technologies, and vertical applications.