AI RAN Market Forecast to Hit $35 Billion by 2031

Stefan Pongratz, Vice President at Dell’Oro Group, noted that while AI RAN technology is set to mature faster than 6G, it acts primarily as an efficiency tool rather than a catalyst for total market expansion. Suppliers are shifting toward software-based subscription models, yet these adjustments are not expected to produce significant incremental revenue by the end of the five-year forecast period.

Operators are prioritizing AI RAN to advance virtualization, automation, and O-RAN capabilities within their existing roadmaps. Current deployments remain focused on single-purpose AI-for-RAN architectures, primarily utilizing non-GPU hardware and 5G standards. However, the outlook for high-performance computing is shifting, with GPU RAN projections recently revised upward to exceed $1 billion by the end of the forecast term.

Incumbent suppliers maintain a strong advantage during this initial transition. In 2025, the industry's top five radio and baseband providers captured 96 percent of total RAN revenue, positioning them to dominate the early phase of AI-driven upgrades. For now, the sector remains defined by these established players leveraging existing hardware to integrate intelligence into current network architectures.