JUST RELEASED: #5G #RedCap April -2025
by (GSA (Global mobile Suppliers Association) Association)
1. Early Commercial Deployments & Operator Investments
📍 As of April 2025, 30 operators in 21 countries are actively investing in 5G RedCap
✅ 6 operators have launched commercial 5G RedCap services:
▪️stc (Kuwait)
▪️DITO Telecommunity Corporation (Philippines)
▪️T-Mobile (United States)
▪️China Unicom, China Telecom Global, China Mobile International Limited
🔄 Majority of other operators (20 operators in 17 countries) are in testing, trials, including Australia, Bahrain, Czechia, Finland, Germany, India, Kuwait, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK, US
2. Regional Adoption Trends
▪️Asia-Pacific leads with 33% of global RedCap investments & three commercial launches in China
▪️Middle East holds 30% of global investments, driven by Industry 4.0 and cost-effective 5G IoT demand
▪️Europe accounts for 20%, North America 10%, & Oceania 7% of investments
3. Network Infrastructure & Vendor Activity
🔧 5G RedCap deployment requires a 5G SA network; 154 operators in 63 countries invest in 5G SA networks
🤝 Major vendors involved:
▪️Nokia (partners: BT UK, stc Bahrain/Kuwait/Saudi Arabia, du UAE)
▪️Ericsson (partners: Telstra, Optus, CETIN, Airtel, Telkomsel, DNB, Singtel, e&, Verizon)
▪️Huawei (partners: China Unicom, China Mobile, China Telecom, stc, Zain, Dito, AIS, Turkcell)
▪️Samsung Electronics completed first automotive industry RedCap trial at Hyundai’s Ulsan plant
▪️TCL launched 5G RedCap product family at MWC 2025
▪️MediaTek & ZTE Corporation active in chipset & network demos
4. Device & Chipset Ecosystem Growth
🔹 Six chipsets with 5G RedCap capabilities identified: Qualcomm Snapdragon X35, MediaTek T300/M60, Unisoc V517, ASR1903, Sequans Taurus 5G NR
📦 RedCap-compatible devices include modules and end-user devices (routers, MiFi, CPE) from MeIG , Fibocom, Quectel, SIMCom, Telit , TCL, Teltonika
📈 Device ecosystem is small but growing, with significant increases expected in 2025
5. Introduction & Outlook for eRedCap
📉 eRedCap (3GPP Release 18, 2024) reduces complexity & power consumption further, targeting low-speed IoT with ~10 Mbps peak rates.
⏳ Commercial availability expected around 2026-2027
🔮 RedCap will dominate mid-tier 5G IoT for 2-3 years before eRedCap grows in low-power applications
6. GSA Perspective
🔗 5G RedCap bridges gap between 4G IoT & full 5G eMBB, enabling cost-effective mid-tier applications
🚀 Supports advanced 5G features like network slicing & 5G-only spectrum bands
🌱 RedCap & eRedCap expected to accelerate 5G standalone network adoption globally
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