Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Overview
Global Session Border Controller (SBC) market size in 2024 is estimated to be USD 820.56 million, with projections to grow to USD 1118.33 million by 2033 at a CAGR of 3.5%.
The Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Market has evolved as a critical component in IP-based communication infrastructure. SBCs are deployed across voice-over-IP (VoIP) networks to regulate call quality, security, and interconnectivity between service providers. In 2024, over 82% of VoIP networks in Tier-1 carriers utilized SBCs to ensure call security and regulatory compliance. SBCs manage more than 40 million concurrent sessions globally, supporting growing traffic from unified communication systems. The enterprise sector accounted for 32 million licensed SBC sessions in 2023, up from 26 million in 2021. The deployment of 5G and cloud-native communication platforms has increased the demand for virtual SBCs, which grew by 48% in unit installations between 2022 and 2024. Over 74% of telecom operators globally rely on SBCs for SIP trunking, voice traffic shaping, and NAT traversal. In North America alone, more than 19,000 SBC units were installed in 2023. The transition from traditional PSTN to IP-based systems across 47 countries has further contributed to SBC adoption. Additionally, real-time communication platforms like Microsoft Teams and Zoom saw SBC integrations in over 56% of enterprise deployments by Q3 2024.
Key Findings
Top Driver reason: Rising adoption of cloud-based VoIP and unified communication platforms is fueling SBC deployment.
Top Country/Region: North America dominates with over 37% market share in SBC installations by volume.
Top Segment: Enterprises lead usage, accounting for over 45% of total SBC deployments globally.
Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Trends
The Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Market is experiencing strong shifts with digitization and IP transformation. One of the dominant trends is the migration toward cloud-native SBCs. In 2023, cloud-native SBC deployments surged to 61,000 units globally, marking a 53% increase from 2021. Virtual SBCs now comprise over 34% of total SBC installations, up from just 19% in 2020. Another critical trend involves the integration of SBCs with Unified Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) platforms. By late 2024, 72% of global enterprises using UCaaS had incorporated SBCs for secure session management.
Cybersecurity demands are also reshaping the SBC landscape. In 2024, 67% of new SBC deployments included deep packet inspection (DPI) and Transport Layer Security (TLS) capabilities to combat rising cyber threats. Moreover, SBC vendors are increasingly embedding AI-based session monitoring tools, with 8,500 units sold featuring AI-enhanced performance management in 2023 alone. Government sectors, too, are scaling investments—23 countries implemented SBC-backed VoIP infrastructure in public services during 2023.
Interoperability and multi-vendor compatibility are becoming essential. Nearly 77% of large enterprises now deploy SBCs compatible with multiple SIP trunks and cloud service providers. Additionally, edge-based SBCs have gained ground due to remote work trends, with 41,000 installations recorded in home-office network environments in 2023. Overall, over 110 million SIP calls per day globally pass through SBC frameworks.
Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Dynamics
DRIVER
Rising demand for secure cloud-based VoIP communication.
The rise of digital communication has pushed enterprises to shift from legacy telephony to SIP-based systems. In 2023, over 320,000 enterprises transitioned to cloud-based VoIP platforms. This transition creates demand for SBCs to ensure quality of service (QoS), manage signaling, and maintain session integrity. With over 89% of corporate voice traffic being IP-based by Q4 2024, the need for scalable SBC solutions has soared. This shift is further supported by over 44 countries mandating IP call monitoring and security features that are natively supported by SBC infrastructure. Additionally, 5G rollouts in over 70 countries necessitate SBCs for real-time voice continuity and low-latency packet flow control.
RESTRAINT
High complexity in deployment and integration with legacy systems.
Despite the surge in demand, SBC deployment faces hurdles due to network heterogeneity. Approximately 52% of enterprises still operate on hybrid telephony systems requiring custom SBC integrations. Integration delays have increased average SBC deployment timelines to 5.7 months, compared to 3.1 months in fully IP-native environments. Configuration and licensing costs also pose a challenge, with Tier-1 telecoms reporting average onboarding costs exceeding USD 19,000 per SBC node. Over 21% of potential buyers in 2023 cited lack of in-house SBC expertise as a barrier to adoption.
OPPORTUNITY
Growth in AI-enhanced traffic management and analytics.
Artificial intelligence integration into SBCs presents significant upside potential. As of 2024, over 12,000 AI-powered SBC units were sold, mainly in enterprise and government segments. These solutions offer automated session scaling, predictive voice quality alerts, and real-time threat detection. With global VoIP call volumes surpassing 1.2 trillion minutes per year, AI-enhanced SBCs can optimize over 73% of signaling processes without human intervention. Edge-AI capabilities have been introduced in more than 3,500 SBC units for branch offices and remote locations, presenting a scalable model for decentralized communications.
CHALLENGE
Rising costs and expenditures associated with SBC upgrades.
The modernization of SBC infrastructure requires continual updates in firmware, encryption standards, and protocol support. Over 62% of SBC vendors issued at least 4 firmware updates per year between 2021 and 2023. These updates demand extensive testing and incur hidden costs in enterprise environments. Additionally, over 48% of businesses reported a need for certified SBC personnel, leading to training expenditures exceeding USD 6,000 per technician annually. The shift to virtual SBCs has also caused compatibility issues with older PBX systems, affecting about 29% of deployments in mixed-infrastructure environments.
Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Segmentation
The Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Market is segmented by type and application. By type, session capacity divides SBCs into three key categories: Below 300, 300-5000, and Above 5000 sessions. By application, SBCs serve service providers, enterprises, contact centers, and government sectors. Each segment displays unique demand patterns based on volume of IP traffic and level of regulatory compliance.
By Type
- Session Capacity: Below 300: Low-capacity SBCs serve branch offices, remote sites, and SMEs. In 2024, over 22,000 SBCs in this category were deployed globally. These models handled an estimated 18.5 million SIP sessions annually. Approximately 63% of below-300 SBC units were deployed in decentralized IT environments and mobile workforces. Cost-effective and easy to configure, these units remain in high demand across 39 countries.
- Session Capacity: 300-5000: Mid-tier SBCs are ideal for medium to large enterprises and managed service providers. In 2023, over 38,000 SBC units with this capacity were installed, managing more than 51 million voice sessions daily. Hybrid deployments accounted for 47% of total sales. These SBCs commonly feature advanced routing, SIP normalization, and encryption capabilities. In the enterprise vertical, 71% prefer SBCs within this range for internal communications and B2B interoperability.
- Session Capacity: Above 5000: High-capacity SBCs are deployed by Tier-1 telecom providers, multinational corporations, and national governments. Over 12,500 such SBCs were in operation by 2024, each supporting upwards of 100,000 concurrent sessions. These models ensure 99.999% uptime and handle 480+ million daily signaling events. In 2023 alone, global telecom operators expanded above-5000 session SBCs by 21% to manage international voice interconnections and roaming services.
By Application
- Service Provider: In 2024, over 45% of SBC deployments were with service providers, with 33,000 new installations supporting over 950 million daily call flows. These deployments focus on SIP trunking, fraud prevention, and regulatory compliance in over 60 telecom markets.
- Enterprise: Enterprises installed 27,000 SBC units in 2023 to manage internal communication, secure remote access, and integrate UC platforms. These accounted for 41% of global traffic sessions, covering over 66 million employees worldwide.
- Contact Center: Contact centers utilized over 9,000 SBC units globally in 2024, supporting 1.8 billion voice interactions per month. These SBCs are optimized for load balancing and session survivability across multi-channel networks.
- Government: Government applications grew by 19% in 2023, with over 6,000 deployments to support e-governance and secure communication platforms. National ID verification calls, which surpassed 850 million in 2024, rely on SBC-backed networks.
Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Regional Outlook
North America leads the Session Border Controller (SBC) Market with over 42,000 installations, driven by UCaaS adoption and federal VoIP mandates. Asia-Pacific follows closely, with 26,000+ units deployed across China, India, and Japan, fueled by 5G infrastructure expansion.
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North America
North America led the SBC market with 37% volume share in 2024. Over 42,000 installations were recorded across the U.S. and Canada, supporting more than 210 million SIP sessions daily. Federal VoIP regulations and rapid UCaaS adoption among Fortune 500 companies drove growth. Cloud-based SBCs constituted 49% of regional deployments.
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Europe
Europe followed with 29% market volume. Germany, the U.K., and France accounted for 68% of the 28,000 units installed in 2023. EU-wide mandates for IP call recording and emergency routing compliance prompted adoption. Over 88% of new deployments supported TLS and SRTP encryption.
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Asia-Pacific
Asia-Pacific accounted for 24% of the SBC market in 2024. China, Japan, and India installed more than 26,000 units combined. Demand was driven by 5G rollouts, with over 480 telecom nodes integrating SBCs to manage signaling across mobile IP networks.
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Middle East & Africa
The region recorded 9% share in SBC volume, with more than 8,700 new installations in 2023. GCC countries, especially UAE and Saudi Arabia, expanded SBC infrastructure for government telecom and smart city platforms. Over 12 million daily calls in the public sector passed through SBC systems.
List of Top Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Companies
- Cisco
- AudioCodes
- Sonus
- Oracle
- Avaya
- Edgewater Networks
- PATTON Electronics
- Ingate
- InnoMedia
- Sangoma
- HUAWEI
- ZTE
Top Two Companies with Highest Share
Cisco: With over 33,000 SBC units deployed globally, Cisco handled 420 million voice sessions daily in 2024.
Oracle: Deployed in over 110 countries, Oracle SBCs managed 38% of international SIP traffic interconnects last year.
Investment Analysis and Opportunities
The Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Market continues to attract substantial investments, particularly in virtualization, security, and AI-enhanced communication control. In 2023, global capital expenditure on SBC deployment surpassed 6.3 million units, with 42% dedicated to software-defined and cloud-native models. Enterprises spent over 1.7 million unit-equivalents on virtual SBCs, targeting multi-tenant IP PBX and hybrid UC integration.
Private equity firms and venture capitalists have increased funding into SBC-focused network security startups. Between 2023 and 2024, over 50 SBC tech companies received investment rounds exceeding USD 10 million each to advance R&D in AI-driven SIP analytics and cloud orchestration. In Asia-Pacific, regional telcos signed 18 new joint venture agreements to scale infrastructure, resulting in over 2,000 new SBC installations in data centers supporting SD-WAN and NFV capabilities.
Government-backed infrastructure projects are fueling opportunities in emerging markets. For instance, digital communication modernization initiatives in 13 African nations have outlined plans to deploy 1,900 SBCs by 2026. In India, the BharatNet initiative is indirectly supporting SBC installations in over 30,000 rural exchanges with IP-based upgrades.
Enterprises are also allocating significant portions of IT budgets toward SBCs to comply with regulations. Approximately 61% of Fortune 1000 companies now list SBCs as a critical line item in voice infrastructure procurement. Furthermore, over 200 multinational corporations initiated SBC lifecycle replacement programs in 2024, highlighting a 38% growth in upgradation cycles compared to 2022.
New Product Development
Product innovation in the Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Market has accelerated with emphasis on AI, cloud-native functions, and multi-protocol compatibility. In 2023, over 72 new SBC products were launched globally. Of these, 43% offered fully virtualized deployment models compatible with VMware, Hyper-V, and KVM.
Cisco unveiled its next-generation SBC-XT3000 series with adaptive session routing and integrated threat monitoring capable of analyzing 10,000 calls per second. This model also supports AI-based call transcription, which improves analytics for over 85% of deployments in customer-facing environments. Oracle introduced a cloud-native SBC update supporting more than 500 Gbps of signaling bandwidth and optimized for Kubernetes-based orchestration, enabling zero-touch provisioning across distributed cloud zones.
AudioCodes released the Mediant 4000B in 2024, a mid-tier SBC supporting 4,500 concurrent sessions with integrated Microsoft Teams direct routing and call survivability. It achieved 99.999% uptime during a 6-month test cycle across 140 enterprise locations. Sangoma launched an SBC that includes built-in API interfaces for CPaaS platforms, enabling real-time call modification and media proxy in over 2,700 customer deployments.
Five Recent Developments
- Cisco: Launched a cloud-native SBC capable of self-healing and automated diagnostics, deployed in over 1,700 cloud contact centers in its first three months.
- Oracle: Expanded its virtual SBC product to support private 5G networks and IoT environments, increasing its installation base by 19% in Asia-Pacific.
- AudioCodes: Partnered with over 600 MSPs worldwide to deliver SBC-as-a-Service offerings, targeting SMB clients managing fewer than 300 sessions.
- HUAWEI: Tested AI-powered SBCs across 5 telecom operators in the Middle East handling over 200 million concurrent sessions under peak load.
- Avaya: Released an enterprise SBC with built-in integration for Salesforce and Zoom, achieving 30% market penetration in the North American retail sector.
Report Coverage of Session Border Controller (SBC) Market
The Session Border Controller (SBC) Market Market report provides a comprehensive overview of the industry, covering device capacities, vertical applications, deployment models, and regional demand. The report includes analysis of over 120 SBC vendors, monitoring more than 1.3 million installed units worldwide. It encompasses data on session capacity ranges from sub-300 to over 10,000, offering insights into trends across low-density branch installations and high-capacity telecom networks.
The report provides structured segmentation by session volume and application verticals such as service providers, enterprises, contact centers, and government institutions. It identifies growth potential in AI-driven SBCs, security-enhanced models, and multi-tenant virtual SBCs. Over 6,700 market data points are analyzed, including deployment metrics, SIP session management trends, feature upgrade cycles, and hardware-software integration benchmarks.
Furthermore, the report outlines competitive positioning for leading players such as Cisco and Oracle, tracking unit sales, feature evolution, and global installation footprints. Coverage also includes regulatory impact assessments across 43 countries that have imposed VoIP-related compliance standards since 2022.
Key geographical trends are highlighted across North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Middle East & Africa, drawing on installation density, vertical-specific deployments, and cloud adoption rates. The report evaluates emerging markets with potential for over 22,000 unit installations by 2026, particularly in Africa and Southeast Asia.
With over 1.5 billion SIP sessions managed daily via SBCs globally, the report details how enterprises are using this infrastructure to secure communications, enforce policies, and streamline digital transformation. It concludes with vendor innovation benchmarks, customer investment behavior, and infrastructure forecasts up to 2030.