New research from International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts worldwide private LTE/5G wireless infrastructure revenues will reach $8.3 billion by 2026, a significant increase from revenues of $1.7 billion in 2021. The market is expected to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.7% over the 2022-2026 forecast period.

IDC defines private LTE/5G wireless infrastructure as any 3GPP-based cellular network deployed for a specific enterprise/industry vertical customer that provides dedicated access to private resources. This could include dedicated spectrum, dedicated hardware and software infrastructure, and which has the ability to support a range of use cases spanning fixed wireless access, traditional and enhanced mobile broadband, IoT endpoints/sensors, and ultra-reliable, low-latency applications.

The worldwide market for private LTE/5G wireless infrastructure continued to gain traction throughout 2021. While private LTE remained the predominant revenue generator, private 5G marketing, education, trials, and new private 5G products and services also began to see market availability. Even so, most private 5G projects to date remain as either trials or pre-commercial deployments. Continued uptake for private LTE and real-world applications of private 5G deployed across the manufacturing, warehousing, and broader industrial sector indicate that while private 5G remains in its infancy from a market size perspective, the appetite and interest for what it can deliver is very real.

“Heightened demand for dedicated or private wireless solutions that can offer enhanced security, performance, and reliability continue to come to the fore as both current and future applications, particularly those in the industrial sector, require more from their network and edge infrastructure,” said Patrick Filkins, research manager, IoT and Telecom Network Infrastructure. “While private LTE/5G infrastructure continues to see more interest, the reality is 5G itself continues to evolve, and will evolve for the next several years. As such, many organizations are expected to invest in private 5G over the coming years as advances are made in 5G standards, general spectrum availability, and device readiness.”

The report, Worldwide Private LTE/5G Infrastructure Forecast, 2022-2026 (IDC #US48891622), presents IDC’s annual forecast for the private LTE/5G wireless infrastructure market. The forecast includes aggregated spending on RAN, core, and transport infrastructure as well as spending by region; it excludes services or publicly owned and operated networks that carry shared data traffic. The report also provides a market overview, including drivers and challenges for technology suppliers, communication service providers, and cloud providers.

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