Private 5G represents more than just a network advancement; it is an unprecedented opportunity to transform industries and rethink the ways in which operations are performed. Mobile private networks aren’t a new concept; these networks have been around for years, but their widespread adoption is still a distant reality. Many factors have contributed to this slow growth until now; these include deployment complexity, costly spectrum license requirements, end device incompatibility, and a lack of convincing returns on investment. But the market is gaining momentum now with deployments increasing across a range of sectors including manufacturing, transportation and logistics (especially ports), energy, healthcare, sports and stadiums, and mining.
In this blog post, we discuss the key trends and current state of the private 5G market, including a discussion on the adoption status in different countries and sectors. It is based on a report we published recently on ‘The state of private 5G adoption: A sectoral and geographical overview’.
Until 2023/2024 most 5G mobile private networks (MPNs) were still proofs of concept and research cases, mostly because of the challenges associated with the technology. In 2024 and 2025, there was a shift towards commercial deployment and real implementations of live networks accelerated. For example, Verizon started seeing an increase in pipeline in 2025 and closed more than a dozen deals in Q1 2025, and Nokia added 55 new private 4G/5G customers in Q4 2024. In addition to the increasing number of customers, the scale of deployment is also increasing. Companies like Airbus and BMW plan to expand the technology globally to most of their plants and facilities. But the number of such companies is few, and in individual countries these networks are still limited to a few sites or locations.
Transforma Insights forecasts that private 5G cellular (non-mMTC) connections will reach 28.5 million by 2030 globally, equivalent to 25% of total private cellular connections, while 4G will retain its dominance with a 39% share. Deployment of private 4G is sometimes happening in parallel with private 5G to save on the full cost of 5G, by tailoring the networks to the specific use cases. For example, 4G can handle high-bandwidth cases like remote monitoring and most machine-to-machine communication, while 5G is ideal for high-performance applications like autonomous robots, autonomous vehicles and real-time AI. In some scenarios, 4G alone is sufficient to support the planned use cases and is still favoured by organisations. For example, out of the 760 private wireless contracts Nokia signed as of 2024, 78% were 4G, 18% were 5G-only and the remaining a combination of 4G and 5G.
China is a relatively mature market in terms of the number of private 5G networks deployed as a result of strong government push and high investment in infrastructure development. China Unicom, one of the leading telecom operators in the country, alone has deployed more than 10,000 private 5G networks for various enterprises in the country. China is followed by the United States, Japan and Germany. The main driver behind the growth of 5G networks in these markets has been the early availability of spectrum. For example, Germany allocated spectrum for local area 5G early in 2019. It is also home to many leading manufacturers that see a great opportunity in deploying private 5G Standalone wireless networks. As a counterexample, India is witnessing a slow adoption of private 5G networks, as no dedicated spectrum has yet been offered to enterprises and in fact, enterprises are also showing less interest in the network technology.
In terms of key verticals, as expected, the manufacturing sector is one of the largest and most active adopters of private networks. In manufacturing, private 5G supports advanced automation and real-time monitoring of production and assembly lines. Apart from manufacturing, private 5G is also becoming popular at ports and airports and in mining, healthcare, and energy sectors. In most industrial and enterprise cases, companies deploy private 5G for operational efficiency, except in cases of stadiums and sometimes airports where adoption is also being driven by the need for extra coverage and potentially capacity. In ports, private 5G enables real-time monitoring and surveillance of port operations and the implementation of remote and autonomous operations such as control of cranes, drones and vehicles. In the mining industry, private 5G can provide coverage in underground and remote areas where Wi-Fi and public cellular network options are always a challenge.
The graphic below provides a quick overview of which verticals are leading adoption in different countries. Manufacturing, ports, healthcare, and energy are all beneficiaries of private 5G technology in most of the countries. Germany has the greatest number of deployments in manufacturing, healthcare and ports, followed by airports, and the energy sector. Australia is witnessing a significant uptake of private 5G networks in the mining sector with Newmont Corporation being one of the biggest adopters. South Korea, China, and Germany have a focus on healthcare for enabling advanced AI-powered patient monitoring and enhanced telemedicine services. Focus in the United States has thus far been in the manufacturing sector.
The private 5G market hasn’t grown at the exponential rate as many providers had hoped for but is now gaining momentum. China dominates the private 5G market, and is followed by the US, Japan and Germany. From a sectoral view, manufacturing is leading the current surge, as has been the case for years with other technologies, due to its high level of process automation and well-developed infrastructure, with other sectors showing increasing interest, particularly energy, mining, ports, airports, mining and healthcare.
