- SNS Telecom & IT examined the most popular private 5G industry sectors
- These include manufacturing, military, healthcare and mining
- The research firm said that Boldyn and NTT are probably the largest private 5G systems integrators
You already know about the vendors, startups and niche players in the private wireless market. But what are the biggest vertical markets hopping on the private 5G bandwagon? We delved back into the data from SNS Telecom & IT’s latest report to find out.
“We project that annual investments in private 5G - excluding LTE - networks for vertical industries will grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 41% between 2025 and 2028, eventually surpassing $5 billion by the end of 2028,” SNS Telecom & IT’s 5G Research Director Asad Khan told Fierce.
Manufacturing
From a global perspective, manufacturing is still the largest industry in SNS’s projections over the next three years, “owing to multi-site, multi-national private 5G projects aimed at addressing patchy Wi-Fi coverage, cabling-related inflexibility and network scalability limitations in production facilities,” Khan said.
The research firm is tracking over a 1,000 projects in the manufacturing space. In addition to deployments at existing sites, manufacturers are increasingly incorporating on-premise 5G connectivity into the building plans of both new greenfield projects and brownfield expansions.
“For example, Future Technologies Venture and iBwave Solutions used CAD (Computer-Aided Design) files to design the Band n48 (3.5 GHz CBRS) private 5G network for automaker Hyundai Motor’s HMGMA (Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America) electrified vehicle plant in Georgia," Khan said. "Another example is John Deere’s recently expanded Horizontina agricultural machinery factory in Brazil, where a Band n78 (3.7-3.8 GHz) private 5G network has just been commissioned."
Military
The second largest vertical is the defense sector, the firm said. Recent and ongoing projects span the globe.
These include the South Korean Ministry of Defense’s $16 million private 5G project for unmanned and remote operations at key military installations; the Singapore Armed Forces deployment of a tactical 5G network at their urban operations training facility; and the Italian Ministry of Defense’s private mobile broadband network that comprises a dual-mode 5G core, fixed base stations for RAN coverage in military installations and transportable network assets.
Stateside, projects include the U.S. Marine Corps’ procurement of tactical private wireless solutions and a separate $6 million sustainment contract for the private 5G network at Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany, Georgia; and the U.S. Army’s acquisition of fixed and expeditionary 5G systems operating in frequencies from 700 MHz to mid-band n78 (3.5 GHz) and n79 (4.9 GHz) spectrum.
Healthcare
Another sector where deployments are growing surprisingly fast? Healthcare. “Healthcare is among the sectors where we’ve adjusted our forecasts upward,” Khan said.
One of the largest healthcare projects SNS is tracking is Sweden’s $35 million VGR (Region Västra Götaland)-5G program, which is intended to replace the legacy DECT system used by the region’s healthcare administrations.
"Under the five-year program, a private 5G network is being established for indoor coverage at more than 500 of the regional council’s critical properties and hospitals within the Västra Götaland County in Sweden’s western coast to ensure reliable communications and emergency alert delivery during day-to-day operations as well as crises and wartime scenarios,” Khan said.
Unsurprisingly, domestic vendor Ericsson has initially been chosen as the equipment supplier for the project.
Mining
Mining is another sector where SNS is seeing greater uptake. “With the availability of suitable spectrum in key national markets, gold mining giant Newmont is evolving its cellular infrastructure to private 5G technology to enable remote-controlled and autonomous mining operations requiring higher data throughput, lower latency, and greater reliability,” Khan noted.
“Its first two private 5G networks have been implemented using Ericsson-supplied network equipment and Band n77 (3.8-3.9 GHz) AWL (Area-Wide Apparatus Licensed) spectrum at the Cadia and Tanami mines in Australia," he added.
Meanwhile, Huawei has recently upgraded China Huaneng Group’s private 5G network at the Yimin open pit coal mine in Inner Mongolia to a tri-band 5G-Advanced system operating in 700 MHz, 2.6 GHz, and 4.9 GHz spectrum to provide high-definition video backhaul and dispatch connectivity for a fleet of 100 autonomous electric mining trucks.
And in India, Tidal Wave Technologies and Druid Software – in collaboration with mobile operator BSNL (Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited) – are deploying a private 5G network using 3.5 GHz spectrum for CIL’s (Coal India Limited) mining sites in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Jharkhand.
Examining system integrators
Having examined the vendors and market sectors involved in this market. It would be unfair to leave out system integrators from the list.
NTT and Boldyn are perhaps the largest global private 5G integrators with a growing number of projects spread across North America, Europe, and Asia.
Oceus Networks – formerly the federal arm of Ericsson – has more than 200 deployments of private LTE/5G networks, mostly with military and federal customers in the U.S., but also overseas national markets such as Finland and Sweden, Khan said.
Others players include but are not limited to Fujitsu, Accenture, Capgemini, Kyndryl, Booz Allen Hamilton, STEP CG, Kajeet, TLC Solutions, 4K Solutions, Lociva, Ambra Solutions, PMY Group, Vocus, Aqura, Federated Wireless, Betacom, InfiniG, Ballast Networks, Fortress Solutions, HALO Networks, Ramen Networks, Meter Cellular, Sigma Wireless, Dense Air, MUGLER, Alsatis, Axians, Axione, Hub One, Telent, Logicalis, Telet Research, Citymesh, RADTONICS, Grape One, NS Solutions, OPTAGE, Wave-In Communication, LG CNS, SEJONG Telecom, CJ OliveNetworks, Megazone Cloud, Nable Communications, Qubicom, NewGens, and Comsol.