Significant strides have been made since the commercial launch and rollout of 5G in 2019. As of 2025, more than 300 service providers in 100 plus countries in the global telecom industry are now offering 5G commercial services. But the vast majority of these networks are based on non-standalone (NSA) architecture that leverages the existing 4G LTE infrastructure for core network functions. The journey continues to a cloud native–based 5G standalone (SA) architecture that promises to unlock the full potential of 5G with ultra-low latency, network slicing, and massive Internet of Things (IoT).
Progress to 5G SA
But the progress to SA has been slow. According to GSMA, 230 operators had invested in public 5G SA networks as of the end of June 2024, and this number represents only 37 percent of the 614 operators total known to have invested in 5G. Transitioning from 5G NSA to SA presents several hurdles spanning technical, financial, and strategic, highlighted in the following areas:
- Complexity: 5G SA requires a new 5G core (5GC) and a rearchitecture of the network backbone with a cloud-native infrastructure that introduces new 5G functions such as the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), and Session Management Function (SMF).
- Device and application readiness: Existing 5G devices must be optimized for SA networks, which limits the value of SA investments. Additionally, operators are facing challenges with interoperability testing, managing dual-mode infrastructure, and maintaining service quality during the transition from NSA to SA.
- Return on investment: The operational cost for supporting both 5G networks─NSA and SA—remains high, and monetizing advanced 5G capabilities such as ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) or massive machine-type communications (mMTC) is still in its early stages. Enterprises are showing interest in private 5G and network slicing, but widespread demand is yet to emerge at scale.
5G SA an Inevitable Destination
Regardless of the above challenges, the journey to 5G SA is inevitable for communications service providers (CSPs). Although CSPs have globally launched 5G SA networks, many are still in the testing phase. The focus is on continuing to deploy scalable cloud-native container-based architecture and growing partnerships with hyperscalers to deliver cost-efficient 5G SA networks.
In addition, 5G SA networks will allow CSPs to monetize services by enabling advanced 5G use cases such as autonomous vehicles, smart factories, and immersive extended reality (XR) experiences as well as leverage opportunities to drive enterprise adoption with fixed wireless access (FWA), network slicing, private 5G, and multi-access edge computing integrations to realize return on investment (ROI).
CSPs overcoming challenges to embrace SA will be better positioned to lead in the next wave of digital innovation─5G advanced, 6G, and beyond.
End-Through-End Visibility with NETSCOUT
As CSPs advance toward 5G SA, they can rely on NETSCOUT vendor-agnostic visibility solutions for continued insights to help unlock innovation and reveal revenue-generating opportunities in support of all 5G use cases.
Mobile operators will need tools in the evolving 5G ecosystem that provide holistic visibility into 5G SA cloud and container environments for real-time monitoring to manage orchestration, automate manual routines, determine root causes, gain insights into service-level agreements (SLAs), and improve triage time to deliver the most satisfactory customer experiences while reducing total cost of ownership (TCO) throughout the 5G lifecycle─prelaunch, launch, and operations.
Learn more about 5G SA networks and NETSCOUT’s 5G solution for service providers.