Telecom Cloud Market Size and Share
Market Overview
| Study Period | 2022 - 2030 |
|---|---|
| Market Size (2025) | USD 31.34 Billion |
| Market Size (2030) | USD 105.93 Billion |
| Growth Rate (2025 - 2030) | 27.58% CAGR |
| Fastest Growing Market | Asia Pacific |
| Largest Market | North America |
| Market Concentration | Medium |
Major Players
*Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order Image © Mordor Intelligence. Reuse requires attribution under CC BY 4.0. |
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Telecom Cloud Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence
The telecom cloud market size is estimated at USD 31.34 billion in 2025 and is forecast to reach USD 105.93 billion by 2030, advancing at a 27.58% CAGR. Operators are steering capital toward cloud-native core networks that unlock 5G monetization, accelerate edge computing, and compress operating costs. Converging trends—Open RAN deployment, network-functions virtualization, and hybrid-cloud adoption—are altering how connectivity is engineered and sold. Spending commitments such as AT&T’s USD 14 billion Open RAN deal with Ericsson underscore the scale of transition. Vodafone’s USD 1.5 billion pact with Microsoft highlights how multi-cloud frameworks address performance, sovereignty, and compliance expectations. Verizon’s multi-access edge computing trials cutting latency in half exemplify how edge-cloud federation positions carriers for Industry 4.0 revenue pools.
Key Report Takeaways
- By solution type, Solution offerings led with 53.6% revenue share of the telecom cloud market in 2024; Services are projected to expand at a 27.7% CAGR through 2030.
- By platform, Infrastructure-as-a-Service captured 49.3% telecom cloud market share in 2024, whereas Platform-as-a-Service is forecast to climb at a 29.2% CAGR to 2030.
- By application, Billing and Provisioning held 45.7% share of the telecom cloud market size in 2024, while Traffic Management is poised for a 28.1% CAGR to 2030.
- By end user, BFSI commanded 32.7% of telecom cloud market share in 2024; Healthcare exhibits the fastest expansion at a 28.8% CAGR through 2030.
- By region, North America accounted for 35.3% of revenue in 2024, yet Asia-Pacific is on track for a 27.3% CAGR between 2025 and 2030.
Global Telecom Cloud Market Trends and Insights
Drivers Impact Analysis
| Driver | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Surge in 5G roll-outs demanding cloud-native core networks | +6.5% | Global, with early gains in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific core markets | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Growing adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud by telecom operators | +2.7% | Global, particularly strong in North America and EU | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| Cost efficiency via NFV-enabled OPEX savings | +2.8% | Global, with higher impact in mature markets | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Convergence of Open RAN accelerating RAN-cloudification | +1.9% | North America and EU leading, Asia-Pacific following | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Edge-cloud federation enabling ultra-low-latency enterprise 4.0 | +1.5% | Global, concentrated in industrial regions | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Sustainability pledges shifting telcos to green public clouds | +1.2% | EU and North America leading, expanding globally | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | |||
Surge in 5G roll-outs demanding cloud-native core networks
Standalone 5G mandates cloud-native cores, dismantling monolithic architectures in favor of micro-services that enable automated network slicing and real-time provisioning. Deutsche Telekom’s work with Google Cloud on AI-driven RAN orchestration proves that automation is now indispensable to manage the scale and complexity of 5G traffic. Telefónica Germany migrated 45 million subscribers to Ericsson’s cloud-native 5G core, cutting service-activation times and fortifying network agility.[1]Deutsche Telekom AG, “Telefónica Germany Migrates 45 Million Subscribers to Cloud-Native Core,” ericsson.comThese transformations signal that 5G revenue relies on cloud-native capabilities deployed at carrier grade.
Growing adoption of hybrid and multi-cloud by telecom operators
Rakuten Symphony’s multi-cloud blueprint showcases workload portability across providers while guarding sovereignty obligations. Hybrid architectures allow latency-sensitive network functions to remain on-premise while scalable workloads burst to public clouds. Cisco finds 82% of enterprises now run hybrid models, validating the strategy for resilience and cost optimization. This dual-environment adoption is accelerating as operators link compliance with innovation velocity.
Edge-cloud federation enabling ultra-low-latency enterprise 4.0
Verizon’s multi-access edge computing trials halved latency, a prerequisite for real-time automation in factories and logistics hubs. [2]Verizon Communications, “MEC Trials Cut Latency by 50%,” verizon.com Federated edge-cloud models stitch central clouds with metro-edge zones, opening fresh revenue from Industry 4.0, AR/VR, and autonomous mobility use cases.
Convergence of Open RAN accelerating RAN-cloudification
AT&T plans 70% of wireless traffic on Open-capable platforms by 2026 through a USD 14 billion Ericsson alliance, illustrating how disaggregated hardware-software deployments are entering production scale att.com. Google Cloud’s O-RAN Alliance membership shows hyperscalers racing to inject their software prowess into radio networks.[3]Google Cloud, “Ericsson On-Demand Launch Announcement,” cloud.google.comCloud RAN centralizes processing, bolstering spectrum efficiency and reducing energy draw, outcomes aligned with operator cost and sustainability goals.
Restraints Impact Analysis
| Restraint | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data-sovereignty and security compliance hurdles | -3.2% | Global, particularly acute in EU, China, and emerging markets | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
| Integration complexity with legacy BSS/OSS stacks | -2.1% | Global, higher impact in mature markets with extensive legacy infrastructure | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Shortage of cloud-native skills in telco ops teams | -1.8% | Global, most severe in North America and EU | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
| High cross-border cloud exit-cost risk exposures | -1.4% | Global, particularly affecting multi-national operators | Medium term (2-4 years) |
| Source: Mordor Intelligence | |||
Data-sovereignty and security compliance hurdles
Google Cloud’s telecom-specific compliance frameworks attest to the maze of regional privacy rules carriers must meet. Localization mandates inflate compute costs by up to 60%, eroding the telecom cloud market’s cost-saving allure. VMware sovereign-cloud blueprints show architecture complexity rises when carriers enforce in-country residency and encryption at rest. Evolving statutes constrain deployment flexibility and lengthen project timelines.
Integration complexity with legacy BSS/OSS stacks
Netcracker outlines multi-stage remediation paths for cloud migrations, spotlighting extensive custom integrations that resist lift-and-shift approaches. Ericsson stresses that outdated BSS silos impede digital-service rollout speeds.[3] Technical debt and change-management hurdles combine to slow momentum, particularly in mature markets with decades of customization.
Segment Analysis
By Type: Services Gain Momentum as Managed Models Scale
In 2024 solution segment held 53.6% share, reflecting operators’ first-wave focus on foundational cloud stacks. Yet Services are accelerating at a 27.7% CAGR, forecast to close the gap as carriers outsource operations to specialist partners. Unified communication, CDN, and security workloads continue to lift Solution revenues, but managed hosting, professional services, and network-as-a-service contracts are growing faster.
Operators increasingly adopt managed models to de-risk transformation and redeploy staff toward customer innovation. Colocation footprints give carriers proximity to edge zones, while professional-service engagements address skills shortages. This trend signals a structural shift toward opex-based consumption, aligning telco spending with traffic elasticity and subscriber seasonality across the telecom cloud market.
By Application: Traffic Management Outpaces Traditional OSS Pillars
Billing and Provisioning retained 45.7% of telecom cloud market size in 2024, underpinning revenue assurance activities critical to every carrier. Traffic Management, however, is projected to grow 28.1% annually as 5G data surges strain networks. Cisco’s Ultra Traffic Optimization and Opanga’s RAIN AI showcase AI-driven congestion relief that boosts QoE without fresh spectrum buys.
AI-infused engines that predict congestion and reroute packets in real time are becoming must-have capabilities. HCL’s Augmented Network Automation illustrates 20% capacity lifts alongside OPEX cuts, explaining the outsized growth. Ancillary workloads such as security analytics and customer-experience portals also migrate to cloud in lockstep, reinforcing application-layer diversification within the telecom cloud market.
By Cloud Platform: PaaS Captures Developer Mindshare
Infrastructure-as-a-Service retained 49.3% telecom cloud market share in 2024 because virtual machines and bare-metal servers remain baseline for VNFs and legacy workloads. Platform-as-a-Service is rising 29.2% a year as micro-services, containers, and CI/CD pipelines move center stage. Ericsson and Google Cloud’s 5G Core-as-a-Service lets operators instantiate slices in minutes, proving PaaS can meet telecom grade SLAs.
Container orchestration and serverless models lower development overhead and shorten release cycles, magnetizing network application teams toward PaaS. SaaS remains niche for now because carriers prefer control over network layers, though targeted SaaS offerings in analytics and compliance are emerging. The shift underscores how the telecom cloud market is aligning with mainstream cloud-native tooling.
Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase
By End User: Healthcare Surges Behind BFSI Leadership
BFSI dominated with 32.7% share of telecom cloud market size in 2024 as digital banking, trading, and fraud analytics depend on low-latency secure infrastructure. Healthcare, though smaller, is advancing 28.8% CAGR as telehealth, imaging, and remote monitoring scale. AT&T’s medical-imaging service exemplifies how centralized cloud repositories improve diagnostic workflows.
Manufacturing is adopting private LTE and edge clouds for smart factories, evidenced by Dow Chemical’s Industry 4.0 rollouts. Retail leans on omnichannel and real-time inventory, while government and smart-city projects focus on public safety and mobility. Media and Entertainment continues to push CDN capacity and live streaming, diversifying demand across the telecom cloud market.
Geography Analysis
North America accounted for 35.3% revenue in 2024 as early 5G roll-outs, established hyperscaler partnerships, and favorable regulations aligned. Carriers monetized edge services and enterprise connectivity, strengthening regional leadership in the telecom cloud market. Federal funding streams for rural 5G also bolster investment momentum.
Asia-Pacific is projected to expand at 27.3% CAGR through 2030, supported by government digitalization programs and massive data-center investments. AWS’s USD 15 billion commitment and Microsoft’s USD 2.9 billion plan in Japan illustrate capital intensity, while Huawei’s 77% cloud-service revenue jump in 2023 signals domestic demand acceleration. China’s USD 9.2 billion 2023 cloud-infrastructure spend positions its carriers and local providers for growth.
Europe remains a sizeable market, where stringent sovereignty mandates foster sovereign-cloud builds and spark Open RAN experiments. Energy-efficiency goals align with cloud consolidation, giving European carriers strategic imperatives to modernize networks. Middle East and Africa and Latin America show rising adoption curves fueled by smart-city initiatives, fintech penetration, and mobile-first demographics, though regulatory gaps and skills shortages temper near-term scale.
Competitive Landscape
Competition centers on alliances rather than head-to-head battles. Vodafone’s decade-long USD 1.5 billion collaboration with Microsoft typifies how operators secure hyperscaler innovation while hyperscalers access carrier distribution. Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung embed cloud APIs into RAN portfolios, ensuring relevance as network functions shift to software. Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure tailor carrier-grade PaaS stacks, competing on automation, AI, and sovereignty guardrails.
Pure-play vendors fill niches—Mavenir in cloud-native IMS, Metaswitch in virtual session border control—while systems integrators handle complex multicloud choreography. The Global Telco AI Alliance reveals consortium models aimed at diluting hyperscaler dominance by co-developing multilingual LLMs. Competitive intensity is moderate; value creation hinges on ecosystem orchestration rather than zero-sum share grabs across the telecom cloud market.
Telecom Cloud Industry Leaders
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AT&T Inc
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BT Group PLC
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Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson
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Verizon Communications Inc.
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Telstra Corporation Ltd.
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order
Recent Industry Developments
- June 2025: Ericsson and Google Cloud launched “Ericsson On-Demand,” a SaaS 5G core platform enabling elastic scaling and AI-assisted troubleshooting.
- June 2025: Microsoft announced USD 400 million to expand Swiss cloud and AI data centers.
- May 2025: Lumen Technologies’ Q1 2025 results showed USD 929 million Adjusted EBITDA and extended direct-fiber access to Google Cloud.
- February 2025: O2 Telefónica activated the world’s first commercial Cloud RAN network on 5G SA with Ericsson.
- February 2025: Deutsche Telekom posted EUR 29.8 billion (USD 32.1 billion) revenue, up 6.5%, reflecting cloud-centric growth.
Research Methodology Framework and Report Scope
Market Definitions and Key Coverage
According to Mordor Intelligence, the telecom cloud market covers carrier-grade computing, storage, and network functions that are virtualized and delivered through public, private, or hybrid clouds to support core, transport, and service-layer workloads for communication service providers. All vendor revenue from solutions such as VNFs/CNFs, cloud-native orchestration stacks, and associated managed or professional services is included.
Connectivity or colocation revenue earned purely from hyperscale data-center leasing is excluded.
Segmentation Overview
- By Type
- Solution
- Unified Communication and Collaboration
- Content Delivery Network
- Other Solutions
- Service
- Colocation Services
- Network Services
- Professional Services
- Managed Services
- Other Types
- Solution
- By Application
- Billing and Provisioning
- Traffic Management
- Other Applications
- By Cloud Platform
- Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
- Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
- Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
- By End User
- BFSI
- Retail
- Manufacturing
- Transportation and Distribution
- Healthcare
- Government
- Media and Entertainment
- Other End Users
- By Geography
- North America
- United States
- Canada
- Mexico
- South America
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Colombia
- Europe
- Germany
- United Kingdom
- France
- Italy
- Spain
- Rest of Europe
- Asia-Pacific
- China
- Japan
- South Korea
- India
- Taiwan
- Rest of Asia-Pacific
- Middle-East and Africa
- Middle-East
- Saudi Arabia
- United Arab Emirates
- Turkey
- Rest of Middle- East
- Africa
- South Africa
- Nigeria
- Egypt
- Rest of Africa
- Middle-East
- North America
Detailed Research Methodology and Data Validation
Primary Research
Mordor analysts interviewed network architects at tier-1 operators across North America, Europe, and Asia Pacific, senior product leads at cloud platform vendors, and systems integrators orchestrating Open RAN pilots. These qualitative insights validated unit economics, typical migration timelines, and adoption hurdles that do not surface in filings.
Desk Research
We screened open datasets from bodies such as the International Telecommunication Union, the GSM Association, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute, and regional regulators, which map 5G site roll-outs, spectrum auctions, and subscriber growth. Economic indicators from the World Bank and cloud price trackers from organizations such as the Cloud Native Computing Foundation informed cost-curve assumptions. Company 10-Ks, investor decks, and major telco annual reports helped us benchmark capex migration toward cloud-native cores. Select paid repositories, for example, D&B Hoovers for financial splits and Dow Jones Factiva for deal flow, added further granularity. The sources listed illustrate the breadth of inputs; many additional public and subscription materials were used to cross-check and clarify data points.
Market-Sizing & Forecasting
A top-down rebuild starts from total operator ICT spend and reallocates the shares linked to virtualized workloads, using indicators such as 5G base-station counts, NFV penetration rates, average cloud unit prices, telecom subscriber additions, and regional data-sovereignty mandates. Key totals are then checked with selective bottom-up samples, supplier roll-ups, and channel ASP × volume checks for calibration. Multivariate regression, supplemented by scenario analysis for currency swings, projects the market through 2030. Gap areas in the bottom-up pass, for instance, missing private-cloud contract values, are bridged with validated proxy ratios shared by interviewees.
Data Validation & Update Cycle
Model outputs pass three tiers of analyst review, automated anomaly flags, and peer checks against external benchmarks before sign-off. We refresh the dataset every twelve months, yet trigger interim updates when material events such as major cloud outsourcing deals alter the baseline.
Why Our Telecom Cloud Baseline Commands Confidence
Published estimates often vary because firms apply different deployment scopes, price-mix assumptions, and refresh cadences.
Key gap drivers include whether professional services are rolled in, the depth of hybrid-cloud coverage, currency conversions, and the frequency with which assumptions on 5G migration costs are revisited.
Benchmark comparison
| Market Size | Anonymized source | Primary gap driver |
|---|---|---|
| USD 31.34 B | Mordor Intelligence | - |
| USD 22.26 B | Global Consultancy A | Excludes managed services and uses static 2024 cloud price points |
| USD 29.42 B | Industry Journal B | Treats enterprise SaaS used by telcos as out-of-scope, leading to lower total |
| USD 51.37 B | Regional Consultancy C | Rolls general data-center leasing revenue into telecom cloud totals |
The comparison shows that results swing when scope or input freshness shifts. By anchoring estimates to audited operator spending and revalidating cloud price curves each year, Mordor delivers a transparent, repeatable baseline that decision-makers can trust.
Key Questions Answered in the Report
What is the current value of the telecom cloud market?
The telecom cloud market is valued at USD 31.34 billion in 2025.
How fast is the telecom cloud market expected to grow?
It is forecast to register a 27.58% CAGR, reaching USD 105.93 billion by 2030.
Which region is growing the quickest?
Asia-Pacific is projected to advance at a 27.3% CAGR thanks to heavy infrastructure spending and digital-government programs.
Why are services outpacing solutions in growth?
Operators increasingly outsource cloud operations to managed-service providers, driving the Services segment at a 27.7% CAGR as they focus internal resources on innovation.
What is the biggest restraint facing telecom cloud adoption?
Data-sovereignty and security compliance hurdles subtract 3.2 percentage points from forecast CAGR, particularly in regions with strict localization laws.
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