5G News Round Up for the Week to 8 December 2024

This week saw significant developments across the 5G landscape, with major milestones in subscriber numbers, strategic shifts in network architecture, and new partnerships advancing both private and public network deployments. China reached a landmark billion 5G subscribers, while several operators made moves to strengthen their network capabilities through both traditional and open approaches.

Key Developments

Market Growth & Subscriber Milestones

China has surpassed 1 billion 5G subscribers, with penetration reaching 55.6%. The country’s operators deployed 764,000 5G base stations in 2024, bringing the total to 4.1 million. For comparison, India holds second place globally with 220.4 million 5G users.

Network Architecture & Innovation

AT&T expanded its open RAN ecosystem, adding Mavenir and Fujitsu as partners one year after its $14 billion deal with Ericsson. The operator aims to move 70% of its 5G traffic to open hardware by late 2026. Meanwhile, Ericsson launched its Compact Packet Core product, designed to simplify operators’ transition to cloud-native infrastructure for 4G and 5G services, promising 80% reduction in configuration parameters.

Private Networks & Enterprise Solutions

The defense sector is emerging as a significant market for private 5G networks, with SNS Telecom & IT forecasting cumulative spending of $1.5 billion between 2024-2027. In Finland, regulators are pushing for expanded mid-band spectrum allocation to support private network growth, particularly in the 2GHz to 7GHz range.

Strategic Corporate Developments

SK Telecom announced a major restructuring for 2025, creating seven business divisions to strengthen its telecoms and AI capabilities. The reorganization includes a dedicated AI R&D Centre supporting cross-group initiatives in modeling, vision, and digital twins.

Suggested Reading

China tops 1B 5G network subs

Milestone achievement in global 5G adoption
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AT&T’s Open RAN Evolution

Strategic expansion of vendor ecosystem with Mavenir and Fujitsu
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Military Private 5G Market Growth

Analysis of defense sector adoption trends
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Ericsson’s Cloud-Native Core Innovation

New solution for simplified network upgrades
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SK Telecom’s AI-Driven Reorganization

Strategic shift towards AI integration
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