Published: 22/01/2026
Author: Greg Collins

BELMONT, CA – January 21, 2026 – Exact Ventures, a leading market intelligence firm specializing in telecommunications and networking technologies, today announced availability of its new report covering Satellite or Non-Terrestrial Core Networks.

The report shows strong growth in core network sales supporting new D2D services. The mobile industry is quickly preparing to incorporate satellite direct-to-device (D2D) or direct-to-cellular (D2C) services into their current mobile offerings. When the industry is struggling with 5G monetization, the prospect of ubiquitous coverage offers many benefits. Moreover, mobile operators would not have to spend as much on building and maintaining infrastructure and allocating spectrum to rural areas and hard-to-cover urban and suburban regions. Such coverage would also open up more revenue opportunities in agriculture, mining, and logistics. Public safety and disaster preparedness is another key market that can drive incremental revenues for mobile operators, both terrestrial and satellite. Operators are also beginning to introduce D2D features directly to consumers (T-Satellite from T-Mobile and STARLINK is a prominent example) which could generate a significant revenue bump for operators, especially considering that the global installed base of smartphones is approaching 8 billion.

The core network market supporting such services is just beginning and is poised to exceed $225 million in the coming years, with outstanding growth potential in the years beyond the current forecast horizon.

In this report you will learn:·      

  • Forecasted market size by network function through 2030. Including regions.     
  • How various satellite operators and network function vendors are positioning and competing for this emerging market.
  • How D2D subscription growth will translate into core network capacity needs.
  • How standards are changing to address the unique technical challenges of enabling real-time communications across satellites and terrestrial base stations.

 

The report includes operator profiles of: STARLINK, AST SpaceMobile, Globalstar, @ChinaSatCom, Skylo, Lynk, Iridium, and Viasat

And vendor profiles of: Druid Software, Ericsson, Huawei Cloud Core, Nokia, Mavenir and ZTE Corporation

Please reach out for further details, including the table of contents and sample data tables, and to discuss pricing and licensing options.

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