The global private 5G cellular network market will expand to $6.32 billion by 2026 from $1.83 billion in 2021, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 28.1 percent, according to a report by Frost & Sullivan. Of this total, the contribution of private 5G networks will be significant, reaching over $5 billion over the forecast period from $600 million in 2021. In its recent analysis, Global Private 5G Network Growth Opportunities, Frost & Sullivan concluded that using 5G in private networks creates a step change for enterprise networks.
“Organizations are embracing private 5G networks to improve the efficiency of production processes while ensuring safety and security,” the report reads. “While some have started the private network journey with 4G, the possibilities enabled by 5G will entice most to upgrade over time.”
Private 5G wireless networks meet the needs for enterprise use cases with high speeds and low latency that WiFi cannot, according to Troy Morley, ICT Industry Principal Analyst at Frost & Sullivan.
Morley added that carriers will expand beyond consumers to the enterprise market to achieve a return on their 5G investments, which will include network slicing, edge networks, as well as private 5G networks. To reap the benefits of private 5G networks, Morley suggested that enterprises should choose licensed spectrum over shared or unlicensed spectrum in mission-critical use cases.
“There are organizations looking to solve problems that do not require the same reliability,” Morley said. “This opens the possibility of using shared spectrum (like CBRS) or even unlicensed spectrum for private 5G networks, which may reduce the overall cost.”
Also facilitating growth, private 5G network deployment has become simpler for enterprises, according to TechTarget. Vendors now help the enterprise plan, deploy and manage the private 5G network, either on premise or as a managed service. These packages include access points, 5G core, SIM management, and system management.
By J. Sharpe Smith, Inside Towers Technology Editor
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