The coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic has sharpened industrial appetites for private LTE and 5G based networking solutions, with the market growing in the face of global economic crisis in 2020 by more than seven percent. So says US-based analyst group Mobile Experts, which claims first-hand accounts from kit vendors about rising demand.
The firm, hawking a new report on the subject, reckons private LTE and 5G infrastructure and devices will take a growing share of the overall private wireless market, growing from 11 percent in 2020 to 25 percent in 2026. The total market also includes services, and is put at about $45 billion in the period, with “healthy” annual growth.
Kyung Mun, principal analyst at Mobile Experts, commented: “Lockdown clarified the need for automation, augmented reality, and other technology tools in the workplace. The benefits of private LTE and 5G networks became clear during the events of last year and clarified the future of the growing market.”
He said his firm has “observed active engagements from key suppliers” in the market, and noted widening availability of “private spectrum” internationally – “to unleash companies to use private networks” – and a busier presence from mobile operators and cloud players offering pre-packed and custom core, radio, and transport solutions.
He said: “Virtualization is encouraging new players to enter the market and innovate—all that to say, we are seeing the momentum building and we expect this market to begin a strong and lengthy growth phase.”
The new reports looks at private cellular in six markets: oil and gas, utilities, manufacturing, transportation, government and public sector, and mining. It makes forecasts for “enterprise-direct, hybrid, and private wireless as-a-service” business models, using solutions ranging from 5G slices to on-premises radio hardware and cloud-based core network solutions.
