A study from the Global Mobile suppliers Association (GSA) has revealed sustained market momentum for the private mobile network arena, with continued growth in enterprise LTE and 5G customer deployment, as well as reported customer references growing at a compound annual growth rate of 37% since 2019.
The Private mobile networks report defined a private mobile network as a 3GPP-based 4G LTE or 5G network intended for the sole use of private entities, such as enterprises, industries and governments. These typically can utilise only physical elements (RAN and Core) or a combination of physical and virtual elements (for example, hosted by a Public Land Mobile Network) – but, as a minimum a dedicated network core needs to have been implemented. The definition also includes MulteFire or Future Railway Mobile Communication System.
GSA also counted customer references as unique organisations or government entities deploying one or more 3GPP-based 4G LTE or 5G networks in a given country that are worth more than €100,000. From May 2024, GSA counts customer references that are worth between €50,000 and €100,000, some of which may include trials.
By the end of the first quarter of 2026, GSA had identified 2,003 organisations worldwide deploying LTE or 5G private mobile networks with a contract value above €100,000, spanning 88 countries. GSA noted that the deployments had passed 2,000 for the first time.
Customer references were found to have grown at a compound annual growth rate of 37% since 2019, with on average 76% of these references being non-public and unique, submitted by members of the GSA Private Mobile Networks Special Interest Group (SIG).
This number was higher for some industries, with more than 80% of references in sectors such as military and defence, maritime and power plants not accessible in the public domain. A further 178 references were worth between €50,000 and €100,000. Net additions worth more than €100,000 in the quarter were 48 customer references, up from 1,953 in the fourth quarter of 2025. Net additions worth between €50,000 and €100,000 totalled eight references.
Manufacturing was the leading industry sector by number of deployments, followed by education and academic research and mining, reflecting the importance of private networks in industrial automation, testing and mission-critical applications.
5G adoption was found to be increasing, accounting for more than half of deployments announced since 2022. Geographically, deployments are concentrated in high- and upper-middle income markets, with the US, Germany and the UK leading.
The report highlighted that a strong correlation still persists between private network adoption and the availability of dedicated or shared spectrum, reinforcing the role of regulatory frameworks in shaping market development.
Assessing the key trends within the date set, the report shows that it was clear that a large number and varied range of market participants are actively engaged in developing and delivering solutions for private mobile networks, according to GSA president Joe Barrett.
“With so much opportunity and so many regulators planning initiatives to make spectrum available for LTE and 5G private usage, we expect significant market developments over the next couple of years,” said Barrett.
“Crucially, over three-quarters of the references included in the GSA database underpinning this report have been provided by members of the Private Mobile Networks SIG on the basis of anonymity, and information for these references will generally not be found in the public domain. We believe this makes this global data the most comprehensive, independent and verifiable available to the industry today.”
