Omdia view
Summary
The centralized, self-organizing networks (C-SON) market has been relatively flat for several years and Omdia believes it will now begin a slow decline as the O-RAN Alliance’s radio access network (RAN) Intelligent Controller (RIC) technology displaces it. While commercial traction for RICs and r/xApps is taking longer than we had previously anticipated (we have lowered our near-term forecasts), the long-term outlook for RIC remains positive. Omdia estimates that the combined market for C-SON and RIC technologies will exceed $1bn by 2029, driven by RIC adoption.
C-SON and open RAN RIC survey
In March–April 2024, Omdia surveyed 16 vendors of C-SON and RIC technology: Aarna, AirHop, Amdocs, Capgemini, Cohere Technologies, Ericsson, Future Connections, HPE, Juniper, Mavenir, Netcracker, Nokia, PI Works, Qualcomm, Viavi, and VMware.
Our survey results cover the following topics:
- Who are the main C-SON, RIC, and app players?
- Partnerships – who is working with whom from a RIC platform and app perspective?
- What traction are vendors seeing with customers and what is the outlook for the C-SON and RIC markets?
- What use cases (rApps and xApps) are available and which are the top priority for customers?
Results of the survey are published in the latest edition of Omdia’s Self-Organizing Networks and RAN Intelligent Control report (see Further reading).
Open RAN activity
As open RAN steadily gains traction, operators will be quick to grasp the value the RIC ecosystems bring to their deployments. Demos, tests, proofs of concept (POCs), and trials precede production deployment of any new telecom technology. Our research indicates that these communication service provider (CSP) engagements have roughly doubled in the past year, as shown in Figure 1, with a focus on the non-real-time RIC (non-RT RIC) and rApps.
Figure 1: RIC and app engagements
Source: Omdia
Omdia believes this activity growth should soon translate into contracts and initial deployments. The slower-than-expected takeoff for RIC is typical of most new technologies. Current challenges include incomplete standards and specifications, multi-vendor interoperability, mitigation of conflicts between apps, and onboarding processes. With time, we believe these problems can be solved and the RIC (and apps) will represent a larger market opportunity than SON has ever achieved.
To learn more please refer to the full report (see Further reading).
Appendix
Further reading
Self-Organizing Networks and RAN Intelligent Control – 2024 (May 2024)
Self-Organizing Networks and RAN Intelligent Control Market Forecast – 2024 Database (May 2024)
Author
Joe Hoffman, Principal Analyst, Service Provider