Top 10: Trends in 5G Network Deployment

As we move further into 2025, the demand for strong 5G networks has never been stronger. Countries like the UK have pledged themselves to boost network rollouts to connect more people, including in more rural areas.
Indeed, with significant industry moves such as the Vodafone/Three UK merger at the end of 2024, world-leading 5G networks have been promised, with technology being used to support such a transformation.
Mobile Magazine spotlights some of the leading current trends in 5G network deployment that are supporting a modern telecommunications industry.
We covered a lot of these innovations in our Top 10: 5G Innovations in December 2024 - now, we are looking at what companies are investing in these technologies and how they intend to use them.
10. Beamforming
Company in focus: NTT, Tokyo Tech
Beamforming is a cutting-edge radio frequency technique that focuses signals towards specific receiving devices. By using a range of sensors and antennas, beamforming is designed to enhance signal quality and result in faster and more reliable data transmission.
Widely used in 5G, LTE and WLAN systems, it's also crucial in radar, sonar and medical imaging.
As wireless technology advances, beamforming continues to play a pivotal role in improving connectivity and data speeds across various applications.
Already, in 2023, NTT and Tokyo Tech pioneered a world-first successful beamforming and high-speed data transmission in the 300GHz Band. Their technology amplifies signal strength and extends communication range and improves reliability.
9. Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC)
Company in focus: Cadence
Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) is a pivotal component of 5G networks designed to connect low-power devices, including IoT sensors, which generate small data packets.
The technology supports up to one million devices per square kilometre, which significantly surpasses 4G LTE capabilities. It can be crucial for applications in smart cities, industrial IoT, agriculture and healthcare, enabling efficient and long-lasting operations with minimal human intervention.
One example of a company that supports mMTC is Cadence, with its analysis tools able to help customers develop 5G infrastructure for applications like intelligent transportation systems, smart grids and smart cities.
8. Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC)
Company in focus: Ericsson, Audi
Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC) is a key feature of 5G technology that enables critical applications across various sectors, including healthcare, autonomous vehicles and industrial automation.
Its use cases range from remote surgery and real-time patient monitoring to advanced robotics and smart grid management. The technology relies on innovations like network slicing and multi-access edge computing to minimise latency across mobile networks.
Ericsson partnered with Audi to push the boundaries of 5G technologies with URLLC, specifically for critical IoT automation applications in smart factories.
Both companies are using this within the context of 5G to deliver better progress with the strict latency and reliability demands of industrial automation.
7. Phased Array Antennas
Company in focus: Viasat
Phased array antennas are revolutionising wireless communication and radar technology. These systems comprise multiple antenna elements working to create a highly directional beam without physical movement.
By manipulating the phase of signals emitted from each element, the array can electronically steer the beam, offering unprecedented flexibility and speed.
Phased arrays are particularly valuable in high-frequency applications such as 5G networks, military radar and satellite communications.
Satellite communications infrastructure provider Viasat joined the 5G Automotive Association (5GAA) in 2024 to expand satellite-enabled vehicle communications technology for autonomous transport systems to bolster 5G coverage.
6. Network slicing
Company in focus: Huawei, Zain KSA
Network slicing allows multiple networks to exist on the same physical network. Each network uses a different ‘slice’ of the same spectrum band and aims to provide greater flexibility.
The technology is vital for 5G networks to support a range of applications that have different performance requirements. For telco service providers, network slicing provides the ability to divide and scale the network on an as-a-service and 'on-demand' basis.
With this in mind, Zain KSA, a leading Saudi digital service provider, in collaboration with Huawei, successfully conducted the first joint verification of FWA Gaming Acceleration. The trial harnessed Huawei’s 5G technology to implement custom network slicing to prioritise gaming data traffic.
5. IoT
Company in focus: Huawei
IoT is rapidly becoming a key telecommunications industry, particularly as adoption increases in fields like transportation, agriculture and smart cities. It is now celebrated as a revolutionary technology that promises to provide greater insights and smarter applications.
From smart cities to intelligent homes, the potential benefits of IoT are indisputable. For instance, Huawei's 5.5G technology works to reduce power consumption in passive IoT by obtaining energy from the surrounding environment. The technology is designed to be deployed with 5G-Advanced networks, equipped with inter-site resource coordination and joint scheduling optimisation.
4. 5G Standalone
Company in focus: EE
5G Standalone (SA 5G) infrastructure is a significant leap in mobile network technology, as it offers independent infrastructure designed exclusively for 5G services.
SA 5G utilises a new 5G packet core network and eliminates reliance on existing 4G LTE systems. This type of cloud-native architecture enables unprecedented flexibility, scalability, and efficiency.
It also promises lower latency, higher speeds and improved reliability. Major carriers are gradually transitioning to this technology, which is expected to unlock new potential for 5G technology.
EE rolled out its 5G Standalone upgrade in the UK in 2024, which you can read all about HERE.
3. OpenRAN
Company in focus: Samsung, O2 Telefónica
Open RAN is an industry movement that embraces open interfaces and virtualised radio access network (RAN) solutions. Breaking away from integrated RAN systems that have traditionally dominated mobile networks, Open RAN ensures mobile operators can mix and match RAN software and hardware components from different vendors using open interfaces.
A key enabling technology for Open RAN is virtualized RAN (vRAN), which shifts baseband processing from dedicated hardware appliances to software running on commercial off-the-shelf servers.
O2 Telefónica and Samsung Electronics are accelerating the shift towards Open RAN and virtualized RAN (vRAN) networks, having launched their first commercial vRAN and Open RAN site in the Bavarian town of Landsberg am Lech in Germany in 2024.
2. Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)
Company in focus: TalkTalk Business
Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) promises to deliver significantly improved bandwidth and reduced latency compared to 4G networks. Designed to support data-intensive applications such as high-definition video streaming, augmented reality and virtual reality (VR/AR) on mobile devices, eMBB could enable seamless connectivity in crowded areas and moving vehicles.
This technology is expected to transform various sectors, including entertainment, healthcare and real-time gaming.
Speaking on the subject, Ruth Kennedy, CEO of TalkTalk Business, said: “In today’s digital economy, businesses simply cannot reach their full potential without dependable, high-speed broadband – it’s the link that connects workplaces to the wider economic market.
“For many businesses, especially in more rural areas, the struggle with poor quality connectivity leads to wasted time, energy and resources – something that is simply unacceptable in this day and age.”
1. Private Networks
Company in focus: Vodafone
A Private 5G network is a wireless network that is dedicated to a single organisation. It's a non-public mobile network that uses licensed, unlicensed, or shared spectrum.
For instance, Vodafone’s Mobile Private Network Managed Services monitor and support the critical infrastructure of its customers 24-hours a day, seven days a week. This support ranges from its engineering and innovation hub, to successfully deploying private mobile networks with its advanced management approach.
As a result, the telco is able to harness its private networks so its customers can confront and overcome network complexities with tools like careful radio planning to optimise coverage and maximise security. This is vitally important across a network if connecting with the outer public network and off-site end users.
Vodafone has said bringing together a private mobile network with Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC) offers customers secure connectivity and powerful computing from the edge of the network, in places that previously couldn’t be connected.
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