• The GSA has provided a snapshot of the 5G market in 2025
• It tracks developments in the areas of 5G SA through to RedCap and NTN
• As 5G grows, older 2G and 3G networks are increasingly being switched off

It may have taken some years to reach this point, but 5G standalone (5G SA) has finally gained momentum, with at least 85 operators in 47 markets now understood to have launched commercial 5G SA networks.

According to Ian Fogg, a research director at CCS Insight, who also works within the research team at the Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA), “a lot of growth in standalone this year is one of the key dynamics during 2025, a bit later than perhaps the industry expected back in 2018, 2019 when 5G rollouts initially happened. But it is starting to get some momentum now”.

Overall, the GSA has identified 181 operators in 73 countries and territories worldwide that are investing in public 5G SA networks.

Fogg was speaking during a GSA snapshot webinar, titled 2025 – the year in review. He also highlighted that some operators are already moving towards 5G Advanced, seen as the interim step between 5G and 6G and based on 3GPP Release 18. Only seven operators are known to have launched a 5G Advanced service so far, with telcos in Asia leading the way.

Meanwhile, 5G reduced capability (RedCap) is another new feature of 5G that arrived with Release 17 and which requires an operator to have a standalone network. 

“We’re seeing adoption of this in a number of markets globally. We’re seeing adoption in the US… Canada, in Brazil [and] parts of Asia-Pacific. We’re seeing some activity in the Middle East, a bit less, perhaps, in Europe than some of the other regions,” Fogg said.

He noted that smartphones are not typically driving RedCap deployments. Instead, the technology is a “natural fit” for lower power devices such as smart watches, and it is also playing a role in fixed wireless access (FWA) because it enables teh development of cheaper customer premises equipment.

5G FWA has itself been a “been a tremendous area of activity” during the past three or four years as operators see it as a way of adding a new revenue stream, or providing connectivity in areas with poor fixed network coverage. The GSA has found that 43% of all 5G FWA services are from operators in Europe.

The GSA also tracks the private mobile network market, and has found that while most deployments use LTE/4G, the share of 5G networks is growing, as others have also noted – see Private 4G/5G sector set for 22% growth – report.

Operators prep D2D offers

Non-terrestrial networks (NTNs) have been a focus this year as operators form partnerships with satellite operators in order to improve broadband coverage and/or offer direct-to-device (D2D) services. 

In the field of D2D, “the greatest number of announced operator partnerships [27] are with AST SpaceMobile, even though [its] commercial service is yet to happen,” Fogg observed. 

Next is Lynk (20), followed by Starlink (12), Omnispace and Skylo (four each), and Viasat(one).

“It’s an area where there’s tremendous interest, not just in what’s happening now in the 5G era, but this is also part of the plans for the future of the cellular standards. We see improvements coming forward as part of the 3GPP roadmap on NTN integration with 5G. And arguably, this is also one of the key pillars looking ahead to the 6G era that will feature under the umbrella of the so-called ubiquitous connectivity pillar,” he said.

As new technologies arrive, older ones are being switched off, as is the case with 2G and 3G networks. According to the GSA, 2025 has been a popular year for planned switch-offs, with 37 operators planning to phase out 2G and 39 switching off 3G. The shutdown of 3G is expected to outpace that of 2G until after 2026.

“Of course, there are regions where there hasn’t been much switching off yet, perhaps regions where there are feature phones in use – in Africa, for example, where there’s lots still to happen,” stated Fogg.

For the latest on NTN developments, check out TelecomTV’s dedicated satellite section. 

- Anne Morris, Contributing Editor, TelecomTV