A new study from Juniper Research, the foremost experts in telecommunications markets, has found that global revenue from wholesale roaming will grow from $9 billion in 2024 to $20 billion by 2028. It predicts that the increasing deployment of 5G standalone (SA) technology, which supports the growing need for real-time monitoring of roaming connections and activity, will be a key driver of this substantial growth over the next four years.

An extract from the new report, Global Mobile Roaming Market 2025-2029, is now available as a free download.

5G SA Deployments to Accelerate Roaming Growth . . .

The report forecasts that roaming revenue from IoT connections will near $2 billion globally by 2028, accounting for 10% of the global wholesale roaming market. For operators to fully maximise this revenue, real-time monitoring solutions that can efficiently identify roaming connections for the visited network in real-time are key to maximising the monetisation of roaming.

The report found that network slicing in 5G SA networks will enable operators to gain greater visibility into roaming connections. Network slicing enables operators to partition areas of a public telecommunications network for specific use cases or enterprise clients. This will enable IoT connections to be closely monitored when roaming, thus reducing the potential revenue leakage for the operator.

. . . But Consumer Devices to Remain Dominant Revenue Source

However, the report found that roaming consumer devices will remain the prevailing source of operators’ wholesale roaming revenue. Research author Georgia Allen remarked: “Investment into network slicing and 5G SA roaming must coincide with operators’ deployments of Billing and Charging Evolution (BCE), which will protect operators from revenue leakage across all roaming connections and ensure effective monetisation of roaming operations.”

About the Research

The new research suite offers the most comprehensive assessment of the Mobile Roaming market to date, including market analysis and in-depth forecasts for 60 countries. The dataset contains over 48,300 market statistics within a five-year period. The report includes a Country Readiness Index and a Competitor Leaderboard.

Juniper Research has, for two decades, provided market intelligence and advisory services to the global telecommunications sector, and is retained by many of the world’s leading network operators and communications platforms.

For further details please contact Sam Smith, Press RelationsT: +44(0)1256 830002E: sam.smith@juniperresearch.com