The global private LTE/5G wireless infrastructure revenues are forecast to reach $8.3 billion by 2026, rising significantly from $1.7 billion in 2021, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

The market is expected to achieve a five-year compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.7% over the 2022-2026 forecast period, it said.

“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,” IDC noted in its research.

However, most private 5G projects to date remain as either “trials or pre-commercial deployments”, it said.

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”, IDC said.

"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,” said Patrick Filkins, research manager, IoT and Telecom Network Infrastructure.