Dell’Oro: Mobile Core Network Market Grows by 15% in 2025, with 5G Accounting for over Half for the First Time
According to a recent report released by Dell’Oro Group, the revenue of the Mobile Core Network (MCN) market is expected to increase by 15% year-on-year in 2025. The 5G mobile core network market has occupied 50% of the entire mobile core network market for the first time.
Dell’Oro Group Research Director Dave Bolan said, “In 2025, the mobile core network market achieved its highest year-on-year growth rate since 2014. This is due to record growth rates in all segments: 4G mobile core network (highest since 2019), 5G mobile core network (highest since 2022), and voice core network (highest since 2007). The growth of 4G mobile core network comes from the Caribbean and Latin America (CALA) and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions; The growth of 5G mobile core network comes from all regions around the world; The growth of the voice core network mainly comes from the Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa regions. ”
Bolan added, “The 5G mobile core network will lead the way in growth by 2025, as the 5G standalone network (5G SA) reaches a turning point and is moving towards mass market appeal as more and more 5G SA networks expand population coverage in urban, suburban, and rural areas. The voice core network is another major contributor to growth in 2025, driven by factors such as the planned 3G mobile core gateway shutdown, which requires upgrading from the circuit switched core network to the IMS core network; And in order to support VoNR in 5G SA networks, the IMS core network will be modernized and transformed into a cloud native IMS core network. At the same time, the 4G mobile core network has expanded due to user growth in Africa and South America.”
Other highlights of mobile core network and multi access edge computing report in the fourth quarter of 2025:
The top four suppliers (Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, and ZTE) achieved very strong growth rates in 2025. Overall, their combined market share is roughly equivalent to that of 2024.
Multi access edge computing (MEC) market segment (a sub segment of the 5G mobile core network market) achieved the highest growth rate among all the mobile core network segments in 2025, and China is still the leading region for MEC deployment.
Standard setting agencies, suppliers, and mobile network operators (MNOs) are collaborating to expand the ecosystem through new products, applications, and profitable features, which are expected to bring benefits in the future.
For example, RedCap wireless technology has reduced the cost of consumer grade wearable devices and industrial IoT devices; Network slicing is used for critical task-based and on-demand applications; IMS data channel to increase profit opportunities and enhance user experience; Open APIs enable developers to extend their applications across all mobile network operators, thereby attracting the application development community.
Agenetic AI is expected to change data traffic patterns and alter the amount of time users stay connected to the network due to agents acting on their behalf. This may indicate a paradigm shift in the future, requiring an increase in the capacity of mobile core networks, expanding supplier opportunities, and enhancing profitability for mobile network operators through pricing hierarchies.