Report:

Magic Quadrant for CSP 5G Core Network Infrastructure Solutions

Top Vendor Products for CSP 5G Core Network Infrastructure Solutions in 2024

• Ericsson
• Huawei
• Nokia
• ZTE

CSP 5G Core Network Infrastructure Solutions Vendor Product Comparisons 2024

• Ericsson - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Ericsson has a broad and well-integrated 5G core product portfolio, with strong emphasis on performance, reliability and preintegration of components to simplify operations and management of core network infrastructure.
  • Ericsson has also adopted innovations to improve network manageability, migration and scalability, such as cloud-native architecture, dual-mode 4G/5G core functionality, customer-based SW-probes, advanced in-service software upgrades, georedundancy, and network monetization through open APIs.
  • Ericsson is a leading player in the evolution of 5G core standards. It is also involved in multiple industry standardization bodies and industry-specific alliances in addition to 3GPP, such as 5G-ACIA, 5GAA, Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), and the Linux Foundation CAMARA project for network API exposures, that expand the reach and impact of its offerings.

  Cons:

  • Ericsson's focus on mobile communications can make it slower to adopt and promote innovations and best practices coming from other technology domains.
  • Ericsson is also more exposed than its more diversified competitors to the near-term market pressure on the 5G technology suppliers, which may impact its near-term R&D plans.
  • Client inquiries indicate Ericsson may not be perceived to be as flexible as other major mobile core players in enabling integration with other third-party infrastructure, though it does have partnerships with leading private and public cloud infrastructure providers.


• Huawei - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Huawei's 5G core benefits from China's extensive 5G rollout, developing a scalable network architecture for large user bases and high traffic. Huawei's professional services organization ensures rapid response to customer needs.
  • Huawei's 5G core solution seamlessly supports multiple generations of network technology, enabling smooth integration and unified operation of multigeneration as well as noncellular networks. This facilitates a smooth transition for CSPs and enhances overall network efficiency.
  • Huawei leads in 5G core technology with continuous innovation. Its 5.5G intelligent core integrates AI-driven management, cloud-native functions, and enhanced reliability, ensuring strong performance, energy efficiency, and simplified operations.

  Cons:

  • The geopolitical landscape can influence the adoption of Huawei's 5G core technology. Trade tensions, sanctions and diplomatic relations can impact Huawei's ability to operate in certain markets and its access to critical components and technologies necessary for 5G infrastructure.
  • Huawei has not built strong cloud partnerships outside its own cloud platform, potentially limiting its integration and reach compared with competitors that have established broader collaborations with major public cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud.
  • There is caution that Huawei's solution offers less integration flexibility and variety compared to other providers, especially when interfacing with Open RAN or specialist vendors in multivendor environments.


• Nokia - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • Nokia is positioned in the lead on vision, due in part to its product and marketing strategy. With its portfolio breadth, Nokia focuses on delivering a 5G core fit for each customer's environment (avoiding integration issues) with optimization for customer needs. It can deliver on any cloud infrastructure: bare metal, on-premises or public. Nokia is also well-positioned on vertical industry strategy, monetization and demonstrated network slicing.
  • Nokia demonstrates a strong understanding of key operational challenges in 5GC and cloud-native environments. It excels in operations and maintenance with multitier automation and security. Focusing on efficiency and automation, Nokia integrates energy efficiency and local AI/ML into cloud-native network functions (CNFs), such as MME and AMF, for predictive traffic loads and container autoscaling.
  • Nokia offers flexibility for deployment and pricing options, with a cloud-native converged core (2/3G, 4G, 5G, fixed), supporting smooth evolution from 4G.

  Cons:

  • Nokia has partnered to use Red Hat as its primary reference platform for core. While this may be a positive option for some CSPs, it could be less attractive to CSPs that prefer more focus on other approaches, although Nokia states that it supports any cloud and has public examples of core deployments on VMware, Google, and AWS in addition to Red Hat.
  • While Nokia leverages Nokia Bell Labs R&D investment in developing emerging technologies, its overall R&D spending is below some other Leaders. The company's October 2023 announcement of a workforce reduction of up to 16% (9,000-14,000 jobs across Nokia) over the next three years raises possible concerns about its product development, sales, marketing and speed of technology advancement.
  • Pressure on Nokia's RAN business indirectly affects its 5G core positioning, as competitors with wider RAN customer bases can more effectively market their core technologies.


• ZTE - Leader
  

  Pros:

  • ZTE's 5G common core supports over 100 million subscribers across Tier 1 Chinese operators and select international markets. This experience helps it meet CSPs' needs for scalability and resilience.
  • ZTE's Automatic Integration Center and big data platform for AI/ML, combined with uSmartInsight, offer life cycle management from design to deployment via a CI/CD pipeline. This integration enhances operational efficiency and innovation.
  • ZTE supports cloud platforms like OpenStack, VMware and Kubernetes with open APIs. It also offers prepackaged solutions for small CSPs, private networks and industrial use cases.

  Cons:

  • ZTE faces challenges in securing 5G contracts outside China due to geopolitical issues and security concerns, limiting its market exposure in regions such as North America, Europe and parts of Asia.
  • ZTE's limited partnership with major global cloud providers affects its go-to-market strategy, especially as CSPs increasingly prioritize public cloud compatibility.
  • ZTE's 4G/5G infrastructure market share outside China is smaller compared with other leaders, limiting its global reach and contract-winning capabilities as CSPs prioritize incumbent vendors for cost-efficiency and time to market.


• Mavenir - Visionary
  

  Pros:

  • Mavenir demonstrates understanding of the current market needs of a range of types of CSPs and of market direction. It offers support for multiaccess core convergence, with a cloud-native and flexible solution. Mavenir focuses on total cost of ownership, providing integration of 5G core with IT workloads for efficient operations, automation and observability.
  • Mavenir offers flexibility in pricing and business model, from single NF to turnkey and perpetual licensing, annual or network-as-a-service subscription model. It is evolving toward Network-as-a-Hosted Service. Mavenir has good sales strategy approaches as an alternative to larger players.
  • Coming in just behind the Magic Quadrant Leaders on execution, Mavenir has solid products and service, with demonstrated performance.

  Cons:

  • With a smaller global footprint and legacy customer base, Mavenir is evaluated to be slightly lower than the Leaders in execution areas of sales and operations.
  • As a small company, Mavenir is more exposed to a broad telecom market slowdown on investments in 5G. With its strong focus on Open RAN, it is also impacted by slower adoption of Open RAN of this technology.
  • Mavenir's service, local presence and brand awareness outside of Europe and North America is more limited than the Leaders'.


• Jio Platforms - Niche Player
  

  Pros:

  • Jio Platforms has attracted investments from global tech giants like Facebook, Google and Qualcomm. These funds not only support R&D but also enable integration with advanced digital services, fostering innovation and enhancing Jio's capabilities.
  • Jio Platforms is the holding company for Reliance Jio, and overseas services like JioFiber, JioTV, JioCinema and JioSaavn. This structure builds synergy across its diverse digital offerings.
  • As a newcomer, its cloud-native design and robust software capabilities offer flexibility to meet diverse customer needs. The company is also more aggressive in pricing strategy with various business models.

  Cons:

  • Launched in 2022, Jio Platforms' 5G core solution is a relatively new entrant in the mobile core market. The effectiveness of this solution in various markets is still under observation, raising cautions about its ability to adapt and perform across different regions and use cases.
  • Despite active industry engagement and global outreach, Jio Platforms' brand recognition and market presence outside India are still emerging. The company faces the ongoing task of converting its domestic success into commercial traction in the global telecom market.
  • Jio Platforms has limited experience and footprint in legacy 3G/4G networks outside India. CSPs outside India should carefully assess Jio's service, support, and integration capabilities, especially for legacy infrastructure and regional resource availability.


• Microsoft - Niche Player
  

  Pros:

  • Microsoft provides solutions supporting 2G/3G/4G and 5G core functionality, which simplifies product deployment and integration with its existing customer base.
  • Solutions allow full integration with Microsoft Azure cloud, which provides CSPs, MNOs and enterprises with a cloud-centric implementation for private, public or hybrid cloud deployments.
  • Microsoft is a pioneer of disaggregated, cloud-centric models for mobile core implementation to provide service agility and flexibility, with the potential to leverage cloud expertise from the broader Microsoft R&D community.

  Cons:

  • Note that AO5GC is currently only available in Preview mode to a limited set of qualifying customers. Recent workforce news of layoffs announced in June 2024 affecting the R&D team supporting AO5GC may raise concerns about the viability as a strategic product under the Microsoft cloud unit.
  • The breadth of 5G core functionality currently supported by the Affirmed UnityCloud and AO5GC products is limited compared with established market players, particularly capabilities for policy management, network exposure and subscriber management.
  • Being part of Microsoft's cloud business unit, the 5GC solutions may be challenged to maintain a cloud-neutral stance, real or perceived, for further product evolution.


• NEC - Niche Player
  

  Pros:

  • NEC has a strong presence in the Japanese market. Since December 2021, NEC's deployment of its 5G SA core solution with NTT DOCOMO has proven the solution's maturity and quality. This large-scale implementation highlights the solution's strong performance and energy efficiency.
  • NEC's 4G/5G converged core, with its cloud-native and distributed architecture, provides flexible deployment options across multiple platforms, including on-premises, public cloud or hybrid environments. It has been tested and is commercially deployed on AWS. The solution also supports Red Hat OpenShift, VMware, Rakuten Cloud, and Wind River.
  • NEC is a leading player in Open RAN technology, which is increasingly important for 5G core networks. Its expertise in this area gives NEC a competitive edge in providing flexible and interoperable 5G core solutions.

  Cons:

  • NEC's portfolio is less comprehensive than other vendors, lacking features like NEF, NWDAF, and SCP, which impacts its competitiveness. Additionally, it relies on partners for end-to-end solutions, which can increase integration complexity and additional costs.
  • Despite its technological capabilities, NEC's global market share in 5G core solutions remains relatively small compared with Leaders like Ericsson, Nokia and Huawei, with deployments largely concentrated in Japan and a few other markets, limiting its global presence and experience.
  • NEC converged core only supports legacy 2G and 3G network interworking through PGW (Gn/Gp). CSPs should assess its compatibility with legacy systems, monitor integration/interoperability issues and stay updated on future enhancements.


• Samsung - Niche Player
  

  Pros:

  • Samsung's core solution supports multigeneration technologies in a single, cloud-native core, enabling rapid 5G stand-alone network construction and smooth upgrades from legacy technologies, which allows operators to evolve their networks at their own pace.
  • Samsung's 5G core supports multivendor interoperability and multicloud environments (Wind River, OpenShift, VMware, AWS, Azure, IBM, Google) using open-source PaaS and Samsung Cloud Orchestrator (SCO) for automation, allowing operators to optimize infrastructure and flexibly integrate with different vendors.
  • Samsung's 5G core ensures telco-grade performance with session continuity and redundancy, supporting high reliability and uninterrupted service. This performance has been proven through early 5G SA deployments in South Korea and Japan.

  Cons:

  • Samsung's 5G core capabilities are well-proven in South Korea and Japan, but its market penetration and brand recognition elsewhere may not be as strong. This regional focus could limit its global reach and competitive edge against more established players in other markets.
  • Samsung's portfolio is less comprehensive than Leaders'. It relies on partners for end-to-end solutions, which can increase integration and interoperability complexity, and add additional costs.
  • Samsung's commitment to 5G core R&D and business development is perceived as less robust than that of industry leaders. Combined with a less clear go-to-market strategy, this limits its potential for winning contracts and market expansion.

Reference

• Gartner, Magic Quadrant for CSP 5G Core Network Infrastructure Solutions, 28-Aug-2024, ID G00806452

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