Revenue from private cellular networks expected to rise 20% through 2025, replacing costlier WiFi
The market for private cellular networks will rise at a compounded average rate of 20% over the next five years, reaching $10 billion in revenue globally by 2025 according to a new report. Wi-Fi private networks, ubiquitous on corporate and manufacturing campuses, appear to be the big loser as CEOs seek better network features for less money.
According to the report by analyst firm Mobile Experts Inc., the adoption rate of private LTE and 5G networks by seven industries will grow “dramatically” in market verticals such as government (with public safety), manufacturing, mining, oil and gas, transportation, and utilities.
Global LTE and 5G revenue grew 30 % in 2019, according to the firm. Its report covers radio-access-network and core-network equipment, as well as managed services and network-application services. Mobile Experts focus on radio-access developments for mobile radio chipmakers.
Authors of the report write that industry appetite for private LTE is changing as well.Today, the dominant adopters are mostly in public safety, railways, ports, and utilities because they need wide coverage with predictive performance and mobility that LTE provides. But demand from manufacturing and mining concerns are now coming on strong, too.
The availability of 4G systems and new wireless spectrum — such as citizens broadband radio service (CBRS) — is easing the decision to switch, according to Mobile Experts.
Indeed, almost nine out of 10 companies polled by another analyst firm, Nemertes Research, use Wi-Fi for their private networks, citing security, efficiency and the need to support IoT projects in edge environments. The survey was commissioned by UK-based small cells radio vendor Ip.access Ltd.
A quarter of those respondents are looking to replace that infrastructure because of the perceived “deployment and operational costs of Wi-Fi private networks,” according to Nemertes.
A not-insignificant number of executives told researchers that they are unhappy with the “over-spec and over-build” they needed to pay for as insurance against security, performance and reliability concerns.
Article Topics
5G | LTE | market research | WiFi | wireless
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