The global Mobile Core Network (MCN) market grew 15% year-on-year in 2025, marking its strongest annual growth rate in more than a decade, according to Dell’Oro Group.
The research firm reported that 2025 delivered the highest year-on-year revenue increase since 2014, with growth recorded across all major segments, including 4G MCN, 5G MCN and Voice Core. For the first time, 5G mobile core networks accounted for 50% of total MCN market revenue.
Dell’Oro said 5G Standalone (5G SA) deployments were a primary growth driver, as operators expanded coverage across urban, suburban and rural areas. Growth in the Voice Core segment was linked to planned 3G core network shutdowns, which prompted upgrades from circuit-switched core networks to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) platforms, including cloud-native IMS implementations to support Voice over New Radio (VoNR).
Regional performance varied by segment. Gains in 4G MCN were driven by subscriber growth in Africa and South America, as well as activity in the Caribbean, Latin America and parts of EMEA. 5G MCN growth was reported across all regions, while Voice Core growth was concentrated in Asia Pacific and EMEA.
The top four vendors — Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia and ZTE — recorded strong growth in 2025 and collectively maintained a similar market share to the previous year.
Dell’Oro also highlighted continued expansion in the Multi-access and Edge Computing (MEC) segment, which forms part of the 5G MCN market. MEC recorded the highest growth rate among MCN segments in 2025, with China remaining the largest market for deployments.
The report noted ongoing collaboration between standards bodies, vendors and mobile network operators to develop new services and monetisation models. Areas of focus include reduced capability (RedCap) radios for lower-cost IoT devices, network slicing for specialised applications, IMS data channels and open APIs designed to support application developers across multiple operator networks.
Dell’Oro said emerging trends such as agentic AI could influence future traffic patterns and network usage models, potentially increasing capacity requirements and creating new pricing and service opportunities for operators.
The findings were published in the firm’s 4Q 2025 Mobile Core Network and Multi-Access Edge Computing report.
