New Research: Open RAN The market for Open RAN solutions will grow to $11.2bn in 2026, according to our latest research report, “Open RAN – Opening the RAN Ecosystem”, published today. However, despite the significant potential for new entrants, Appledore predicts that the lion’s share of that revenue will go to traditional incumbents, offering open-compatible versions of existing RAN components. Systems integration of Open RAN solutions will offer the largest potential for new revenue – but will be competed for by a wider range of traditional and non-traditional vendors. Open RAN unquestionably represents a disruptive new factor in the increasingly consolidated RAN supply chain. However, its stated objectives are as much political and organisational as they are technical, perhaps even more so. As a result, the ultimate success of open RAN will depend on much more than proof-of-concepts or pilot projects. In particular, it will depend on efforts by operators, governments, investors and industry consortia to establish a viable ecosystem of open RAN component providers. In our view, Open RAN should not be viewed in a “just another G” sort of way. The unique confluence of cloud, mobile, network economics and global politics mean that there is much more at […]