Cumulative 5G RAN investments by global telecom operators are expected to cross $6 billion by 2021, according to a RAN report by Dell’Oro Group.

The growth in Radio Access Network (RAN) market will be supported by strong adoption of LTE small cells and 5G macro technologies.

“A stronger focus than initially envisioned on the sub 3 and sub 6 GHz 5G macro layers coupled with a robust outlook for LTE small cells form the basis for a more optimistic view of the overall RAN market in the outer part of the forecast,” said Stefan Pongratz, senior director at Dell’Oro Group.

The report said that the IoT impact on the RAN market remains highly uncertain. The demand for mobile broadband will fuel the growth in 5G macro uptake in the advanced mobile broadband markets. China, Japan, Korea, and North America will be accounting for more than 90 percent of the 5G market.

Earlier, telecom industry association GSMA predicted that China will be dominating the 5G mobile market.

Dell’Oro Group today said LTE and 5G Small cell RAN revenues are expected to grow 4-fold over the forecast period.

Millimeter wave is expected to account for less than five percent of total 5G market by 2021.

Nearly half of 5G RAN market revenues will leverage C-RAN and Cloud-RAN architectures by 2021.

The projected cumulative revenues for the RAN market between 2017 and 2021 are anticipated to represent the weakest five-year period since 2000.