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This article is part of: Network Innovation
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In this annual update to our Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker we focus on 5G core, vRAN/open RAN and cloud-native container orchestration platform deployments by telcos.
Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker 2026: Overview of key trends
This report is based on the data contained in our Telco Cloud Deployment Tracker database (see separate Excel spreadsheet).
As the adoption of virtualised network functions (VNFs) and infrastructure, and SDN-based platforms such as SD-WAN and SASE, has become almost universal, we have reduced the scope of the data updated for 2025 to threecritical areas of the network:
Source: STL Partners
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5G SA: ‘Too little, too late’ or ‘Better late than never’?
While there was a distinct upturn in 5G SA deployments in 2025 – which we expect to continue into 2026 – SA deployments still represent only a small fraction of overall 5G networks, which continue to be based on NSA cores: 4G cores upgraded to the 5G New Radio (NR) radio standards i.e., 5G tethered to the data-processing limitations of 4G.
So, this report asks two fundamental questions:
Too little, too late? Is it too late to deploy SA for the long tail of operators that have not yet introduced it, or even have no public plans to do so? But also, can they afford to sit it out and wait till the 6G standards are laid out before they go through the evolution to cloud-native operations and infrastructure that was required for 5G SA?
Better late than never? 5G SA – as the ‘true 5G’ – is an opportunity that has been largely missed up to now. Is there still time for the operators that have now finally rolled it out, or are planning to do so in 2026 or 2027, to capitalise on the investment and create new value-generating services off the back of the investment?
Table of contents
- Executive summary
- Introduction
- Tracker data overview
- 5G SA: Industry outlook and future scenarios
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