- The $6 billion figure excludes Chinese networks that run over public spectrum and are controlled by operators and not by the enterprise
- The numbers also exclude network slicing and other private network services
- Logistics has the highest growth rate at 43% CAGR through 2030
Mobile Experts is the latest analyst firm to put out a report on the explosive growth of private networks with an emphasis on the different sectors — energy, logistics, mining, transportation and more — that are using the technology.
“All of the sectors that we track are growing, but logistics has the highest growth rate at 43% CAGR through 2030,” Mobile Experts Founder and Lead Analyst Joe Madden told Fierce in an email.
“The market for Private Cellular Networks will reach $6B in 2030, including RAN, Core, Transport, and IoT/CPE devices,” Madden said. “This figure refers to dedicated Private Cellular networks, excluding Chinese networks that run over public spectrum and are controlled by the operators and not by the enterprise.”
The analyst also noted that the $6 billion figure also excluded network slicing and other private network services, which will reach another $6.5B in 2030. So, probably the debates about whether enterprises should deploy private networks or network slicing will continue.
Madden noted that enterprise markets adopt new technology much slower than consumers with smartphones. “Most of the Private Cellular market is based on LTE today, and 5G is coming along,” Madden said. This is true in North America, Europe and parts of Asia, notably though China, using operator spectrum and its 5G standalone network infrastructure, has surged ahead in 5G private networks, albeit using carrier radio bandwidth.
“For many years, we expect 4G, 5G, and 6G to coexist because of the very long investment cycles of industrial customers,” the analyst concluded. Fierce has already reported about plans for a dedicated 6G specification for shared spectrum private networks.