5G private networks growing at 20%, says study

With global network capex in full retreat, private networks have become one of mobile’s few growth hotspots.

Research firm SNS Telecom & IT says the sector is on track for annual growth of 20% and likely total spending of $6 billion by end-2027.

Nearly 60% of this investment – worth around $3.5 billion over the next three years – will be tipped into standalone 5G, making it the predominant wireless network tech for digitization and factory automation, a new report concludes.

The result of this growth spurt will likely be the transformation of private networks “into an almost parallel equipment ecosystem” by the late 2020s. By 2030, private networks could account for as much as a fifth of all mobile network infrastructure spending.

SNS, which says it is drawing on its database of 7,300 private LTE/5G networks in 130 countries, says one of the biggest drivers is the quantifiable performance advantages of 5G over other network technologies.

This is especially true of standalone 5G core, which, although deployed by less than a tenth of the world’s mobile operators, delivers performance and efficiency advantages that have led to much greater success in the small but burgeoning private cellular segment.

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