Report Abstract
5G SA Core, SDM & Policy Market Report 2026: Global Analysis & Forecast Through 2031 | 5G Core Network Functions, Subscriber Data Management & Policy Control
In This Report:
This report analyzes the 5G standalone mobile core market worldwide, covering 5G core network elements and functions including subscriber data management (SDM) and policy and charging functions — PCF and CHF respectively. It presents historical market data from 2016 to 2025, annual market sizing and vendor market shares, and a detailed forecast through 2031 for 5G SA Core, SDM, and PCF/CHF revenue across all major regions. In addition, the report provides a key vendor barometer tracking market traction across 11 leading vendors based on direct CSP engagement and ongoing market monitoring.
What You Get:
- Historical 5G SA Core, 5G Data Management, SDM & PCRF/PCF/CHF market data from 2016 to 2025
- Annual market sizing and vendor market shares across 30+ mobile core vendors
- Detailed regional forecast through 2031: North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific, CALA
- Revenue breakdown by 5G SA Core, 5G Data Management, SDM, and PCRF/PCF/CHF
- Key vendor barometer covering Amdocs, Enea, Ericsson, Huawei, Mavenir, NEC, Netcracker, Nokia, Oracle, Samsung & ZTE — based on real CSP market traction, not just revenue estimates
- Analysis of 5G SA migration patterns, network function deployment sequencing, and cloud-native core adoption, and lingering challenges
- Analysis of 5G monetization patterns
Report Details
- Historical Data: 2016–2025
- Forecast Period: 2026–2031
- Coverage: 5G SA Core | Subscriber Data Management (SDM) | Policy Control Function (PCF) | Charging Function (CHF) Vendors Tracked: 30+ mobile core vendors Vendor Barometer: 11 key vendors tracked on CSP market traction
- Regions: North America | Europe Middle East Africa | Asia Pacific | Caribbean & Latin America
Table of Contents
Key Takeaways
2025 Market Review
- 37 5G networks added in 2025, including 21 SA
- The global 5G SA core + Data Management + Policy & Charging grew 19% YoY
- The 5G software architecture accelerates the capex to opex shift
- Cloud native software platforms account for 2/3 of total 5G SA rollouts
- 5G FWA remains the chief driver
- API exposure is increasingly becoming a major 5G SA market driver
- Like VoLTE back in the days, VoNR is struggling to get traction
- The RedCap momentum keeps building but slowly though
- Unsurprisingly, network slicing is losing steam
- Global market shares
Vendor Sales Market Shares
- The total 5G SA core + SDM + Policy leadership board does not budge
- The persistent dominance of Huawei should not be underestimated
- As usual, the Chinese vendors leads 5G SA core sales
- Ericsson and Nokia are neck and neck for live 5G SA footprint
- Huawei leads SDM sales followed by Ericsson and Nokia
- By contrast, the policy market remains very fragmented
- cCopyright 2026 T?RAL RESEARCH
Vendor Analysis and Barometer
- Market Exit, Mergers and Acquisitions
- Our 5G SA core vendor barometer analysis
- Our barometer
- Amdocs
- Enea
- Ericsson
- Huawei
- Mavenir
- NEC
- Netcracker
- Nokia
- Oracle
- Samsung
- ZTE
Looking Forward, 2026 and beyond
- 11 new commercial 5G networks launched in 1Q
- The 5G SA market is poised for strong growth
- Asia Pacific will remain the world’s largest market
- FWA will remain the 5G chief monetization driver
- Ironically, 5G monetization is still in the early innings
- Some specific 5G monetization opportunities are emerging
- But the same challenges are lingering and cloud the outlook