The Mobile Industry's First Solid Forecast of NHN Revenue

Mobile Experts charts growth for neutral hosted cellular services

CAMPBELL, Calif., Feb. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Mobile Experts released a new report this week, laying out the likely future of Neutral Hosted Networks (NHN) and the service revenues associated with providing public access to cellular networks.

Inside buildings, cellular coverage can be weak due to concrete and steel blocking the radio waves from penetrating the walls. Huge buildings like airports and stadiums have solved this problem with Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), which provides the capacity needed for large numbers of smartphones, but can be expensive. Building owners in smaller venues typically choose not to spend so much on a wireless solution.

Instead, in smaller buildings, we tend to see different solutions ranging from repeaters to small cells (MORAN) and even Wi-Fi Passpoint as less expensive and quicker ways to provide indoor cellular connectivity. A new approach using a shared RAN with a Multi-Operator Core Network (MOCN) is starting to take off, with carrier approvals, especially in the dynamic American market, as a low-cost solution that also allows for Private Cellular connectivity as well.

The new report highlights vertical markets ranging from Transportation to Healthcare, Industrial, Higher Education, and Office environments where private cellular is useful for building operations or IoT applications, while visitors to the building enjoy seamless access to their favorite mobile operator. 

The forecast also breaks down the growth of managed services for neutral-hosted networks, with key details for each technology choice ranging from DAS and Wi-Fi Passpoint to MORAN and MOCN.

"The multi-operator technology options for indoor cellular are increasing and becoming much more streamlined," commented Kyung Mun, Principal Analyst at Mobile Experts. "If private spectrum is available, the MOCN approach can be cost-effective and easy for the operator. MORAN is another approach that can cut costs by sharing a radio among three networks or even more. Neutral host providers have many technology choices and hybrid options to meet enterprise verticals' wide range of cost/performance requirements. We're anticipating that these new technologies will allow a shift from carrier investment to the growth of a managed services market in the in-building wireless arena."

Subscribers to Neutral Host Provider Outlook 2025 will receive:

• Full access to the 40-page Neutral Host Provider Outlook report;
• Clear breakdowns by technology, by NHN owner, and by world region for the 5-year forecast in an Excel spreadsheet;
• Informed analysis of how services will shift from mobile operators to Neutral Hosts and some do-it-yourself enterprises; and
• Access to the analysts behind the reports.

To learn more about Mobile Experts research, click here.

About Mobile Experts Inc.:

Mobile Experts techno-market analysis is used by more than 150 suppliers in the mobile/wireless industry, as well as multiple mobile operators, hyperscalers, and managed service providers. MEXP was the only analyst firm to correctly predict the failure of femtocells and the use of small cells for capacity in 2011, and was the only firm to predict the rise of 5G FWA as early as 2015.

Mobile Experts combines a deep-dive technical approach with hard-nosed economic analysis to predict the long-term future of the mobile industry. Recent publications focus on In-Building Wireless, Industrial Private Cellular, Virtual RAN, AI impact on RAN Capacity, Small Cells, Edge Computing, and more. 

Contact:
Rachel Winningham
[email protected]
+1 (408) 374-0690
www.mobile-experts.net

SOURCE Mobile Experts Inc.