Hampshire, UK – A new study by Juniper Research, the foremost experts in telecommunications markets, has found that annual operator investment into O-RAN (Open Radio Access Networks) will reach $11 billion in 2029; rising from $2 billion in 2024.

This culmination of nearly $40 billion of global investment into AI network automation by 2029 will be driven by the need to cater for increasing cellular connections and data.

O-RAN is a version of the RAN which supports multi-vendor deployments, and enables operators to expand AI RAN deployments. RAN is the technology that provides connectivity between end connections and network cores.

An extract from the new report, Global Operator O-RAN Strategies, 2024-2029, is now available as a free download.

AI-based Traffic Steering

The report forecasts that cellular data usage will more than double over the next four years; owing to the expansion of new 5G broadband services, and the use of 5G for the Internet of Things. To enable telecommunications networks to efficiently process this increased data, the report identified AI-based traffic steering as a crucial service enabled by O-RAN. Traffic steering enables operators to maximise the efficiency of networks through the automated routing of cellular traffic to maximise network resources.

The report urges operators to leverage AI-based traffic steering, to intelligently steer traffic based on application. This will enable operators to prioritise applications dependent on low latency, ensuring that load balancing will occur with minimal impact to connectivity.

Research author Alex Webb remarked: “Operators must leverage AI-based traffic steering to improve connectivity services, such as enhanced mobile broadband, with network traffic generated by these connections being given priority steering to the base station offering the lowest latency to maximise the value proposition for users.”