The total Mobile Core Network (MCN) and Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) market revenues for 1Q 2022 rebounded to a positive year-over-year growth rate after the decrease in 4Q 2021 which was the first decrease since 4Q 2017, Dell’Oro Group said.

The MCN market growth was driven by an extremely high double-digit percentage revenue growth rate in the 5G MCN market overcoming the revenue declines in the 4G MCN and IMS Core markets. China region had a high growth rate while the MCN market excluding China had a negative growth rate for the quarter.

The top two vendors for the MCN, 4G MCN, and IMS Core markets were Huawei and Ericsson. The report did not reveal the specific market share of Huawei and Ericsson during the first quarter of 2022.

The top two vendors for the 5G MCN market were Huawei and ZTE. The report did not reveal the specific market share of Huawei and ZTE in the worldwide 5G mobile core networks business market.

Nokia and Ericsson had the highest growth rates for the 5G MCN market coming from a low small base. However, Huawei had the highest dollar revenue gain, with a lower growth rate coming from a larger base.

“With the continued aggressive build-out of 5G Standalone (SA) networks in China, the China region in 1Q 2022 substantially increased its share of the 5G MCN market over last quarter,” stated Dave Bolan, Research Director at Dell’Oro Group.

The research report said 25 mobile network operators that have commercially launched 5G SA mobile broadband networks (MBB) with services available to consumers. The 5G Core vendors (in alphabetical order) include Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, NEC, Nokia, Samsung, and ZTE.

“We have identified 150 MNOs with 5G Core contracts with the above vendors plus Mavenir. There are still more 5G Core contracts that vendors have acknowledged without revealing the associated MNOs,” Dave Bolan said.

There is fewer 5G Core network launches slated for 2022 as compared to 2021 when 16 networks were launched.

One of the most anticipated and publicized 5G Core launches is Dish Wireless – the first to run 5G Core on the Public Cloud. Dish Wireless is preparing to launch in many cities by mid-June 2022 to meet regulatory coverage requirements. In early May 2022, Dish had a soft launch in its first city, Las Vegas. Nokia is the primary 5G Core vendor for Dish Wireless.

Multi-access Edge Computing deployed by MNOs has barely scratched the surface in spite of all the hype, except for the China region, which has deployed thousands of MEC nodes throughout their MNO networks, with a mix of Public MEC and Private MEC sites.