Whitepaper Nº11·Spectrum & Devices·June 2026
Right-Sized 5G: The Economics of a Smaller Radio
How RedCap and eRedCap strip a 5G radio down to IoT economics — and where 2026 planners still misjudge it.
Abstract
RedCap reaches full-NR economics by removing bandwidth, a receive antenna, full duplex and fast processing — cuts 3GPP quantifies at roughly 67% of a reference NR device's cost. GSA counts 42 operators investing and fourteen with commercial RedCap live; eRedCap chipsets are only now emerging.
Headline finding
Four RedCap cuts remove ~67% of a reference NR device's cost (3GPP TR 38.875)
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This paper deepens one of our guides. If you want the shorter version first, read that.
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