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Dell’Oro said 5G MCN revenue in North America and EMEA expanded 20% year over year during the quarter, continuing momentum that began in 2025
In sum – what to know:
Regional divergence – 5G mobile core network revenue grew 20% in North America and EMEA while China recorded its sharpest decline since 5G was introduced.
Cloud-native shift – Operators are accelerating 5G SA upgrades as the industry transitions toward cloud-native, microservices-based network architectures.
Vendor concentration – Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia continued expanding market share dominance as operators scrutinize network spending and server costs.
Worldwide 5G mobile core network (MCN) revenue trends diverged sharply in the first quarter of 2026, with growth outside China offset by a steep decline in the Chinese market, according to new research from Dell’Oro Group.
The research firm said 5G MCN revenue in North America and EMEA expanded 20% year over year during the quarter, continuing momentum that began in 2025. Meanwhile, revenue in China declined more sharply than in any quarter since the introduction of 5G.
“In North America and EMEA, the 5G core network revenue growth that started in 2025 continued into the first quarter of 2026, with revenue from those regions expanding 20 percent,” stated Siân Morgan, research director at Dell’Oro Group.
“However, telecom spending in China is expected to decline significantly in 2026, and the operators in that country have already invested considerably in 5G SA,” the analyst said.
Morgan said 5G Standalone (5G SA) deployments reached a turning point in 2025, helping larger suppliers strengthen their positions in the market. “Worldwide, 5G SA reached an inflection point in 2025, and Huawei, Ericsson, and Nokia have succeeded in taking more share from smaller players,” added Morgan. “This expansion occurred despite an escalation in server prices which is causing mobile network operators to scrutinize the cost of network projects.”
According to Dell’Oro, the acceleration of 5G SA deployments outside China is being driven largely by operator modernization efforts tied to cloud-native architectures.
“The biggest driver of 5G SA upgrades is the recognition by mobile operators that the whole industry is moving towards a cloud-native architecture, and that VNFs will, fairly soon, no longer be supported,” Morgan said in comments to RCR Wireless News.
“This is pushing more operators to undertake a core network modernization, moving as much of the network as possible to a micro-services based architecture, and profiting from operational gains enabled by cloud-native,” Morgan said.
Morgan added that operators are beginning to explore monetization opportunities tied to advanced 5G capabilities, although expectations remain only partially fulfilled. “Operators are also starting to find ways to monetize their 5G SA networks, with functionality such as slicing, RedCap and advanced carrier aggregation; however there is a general sense from operators that the monetization opportunities have not yet fulfilled industry expectations.”
Dell’Oro expects regional market divergence to continue through 2026, with EMEA projected to lead global growth.
“In 2026, I expect EMEA to lead the way in terms of 5G mobile core network growth, at 21% year-on-year. That region has many networks that must be upgraded. I’m expecting North America to grow at 20%. The major mobile network operators in that region have already invested in 5G SA, but network expansion will continue in 2026. I’m expecting a double-digit decline in China. China was an early adopter of 5G SA, and 5G MCN spending from China peaked in 1Q25.”
Dell’Oro also noted that the multi-access edge computing market continued growing during the quarter, with China remaining the dominant region for MEC deployments. The firm added that 4G packet core revenue outpaced overall market growth, reflecting continued operator investment in legacy network modernization.
According to recent data from Dell’Oro, the worldwide radio access network (RAN) revenue remained broadly stable during the first quarter of 2026, continuing a trend of limited market volatility that has persisted for more than a year.
The research firm said worldwide RAN revenue, excluding services, increased at a low single-digit year-over-year rate during the quarter, marking the fifth consecutive quarter in which the market remained within a relatively narrow range of minus 4% to plus 4%.
According to the report, growth in EMEA and parts of the Asia-Pacific region helped offset weaker activity in North America. China also remained under pressure during the quarter.