Private LTE/5G Market is Full of Energy

According to IDC, the global private LTE and 5G wireless infrastructure market will reach $8.3 billion in revenue by 2026, up from $1.7 billion in 2021. The research firm explained that the market is expected to grow at a five-year CAGR of 36.7% from 2022 to 2026. While the global market for LTE/5G wireless infrastructure will grow in 2021, IDC points out that private LTE is the main source of revenue.

5G infrastructure is primarily a combination of radio access network (RAN), 5G core network, and backhaul and transport. Backhaul and transmission networks include fiber optic or microwave antennas. With the continuous development of 5G technology, 5G application scenarios have also expanded, covering thousands of industries such as industrial manufacturing, transportation, military, medical, education, etc., which has also led to the expansion of the 5G infrastructure market, which in turn has led to the expansion of optical fiber. , microwave antenna and other products market demand.

The reason for the emergence of private LTE is that in the context of the lack of large-scale commercial use of 5G, operators have launched a combination of various network technologies and products to meet the needs of IoT services. Part of the private LTE has played the role of a "front stop" in the 5G development process, verifying whether some 5G applications are necessary for commercial use. Compared to 5G applications, which are still evolving, private LTE is already widely used in a number of key industries. There are many industries in the national economy that have special communication network requirements, such as highly real-time monitoring, visual operation, high-security authentication control, safety production monitoring, remote diagnosis, and asset management. Some special needs cannot be met by the unified and standardized services of the public network, including resource-based industries, power production and transmission, civil aviation, railways, and some manufacturing industries. It has irreplaceable characteristics, which enables private LTE to exist and has sufficient "market vitality". It has been estimated that by 2023, 750 million IoT devices will be connected to private networks, compared with 170 million in 2017, with a compound annual growth rate of nearly 30%.

At a time when LTE is increasingly seen as an all-encompassing critical communications platform, everyone from public safety agencies to operators is investing heavily in private LTE and 5G-enabled networks. These private LTE/5G networks can operate on licensed and/or unlicensed spectrum, can be managed by enterprises or service providers, and can be optimized and configured for specific data or security needs. Through these networks, users' needs for longer distances and higher performance are met, and they can help with the digital transformation of mission-critical and other innovative services. This also benefits from the wide coverage, low latency, and high reliability of private LTE/5G networks.

With the development of the 5G system, it provides more possibilities for the construction of private LTE. The reliable processing of massive data and ultra-reliable low-latency communication of 5G have further improved private LTE, which in turn will bring more opportunities for intelligent and digital transformation, such as reconfigurable factories, mobile robots, AR, and machine vision.

Of course, with the development of 5G, and the evolution of private LTE to private LTE/5G, there are still several challenges to provide customers with private LTE networks, such as competition among equipment suppliers - there are currently many well-known DMR supplier in the world It also launched its private LTE solution; for example, the allocation of enterprise spectrum resources - radio spectrum resources are very precious, and a few special industries have their own spectrum resources. These spectrum resources are different from unlicensed public spectrum. They are exclusive, private and strictly protected by relevant laws and regulations; as well as the exploration of business models, etc.

But in general, with the birth of 5G, LTE/5G is developing well, and due to its own characteristics, it occupies a sufficient position in the entire communication market. Correspondingly, in its layout process , the demand for 5G infrastructure such as optical fibers, antennas and other products will also gradually increase.