The exact number of existing private mobile network deployments is hard to determine, as details are not often made public. Excluding the companies holding CBRS PAL licences in the USA (except those known to be undertaking private rather than public mobile network projects using the spectrum), and more than 150 local spectrum licences in Netherlands (that are due to expire in the next couple of years and are the subject of spectrum restructuring plans), available data suggests that at least 330 companies have been or are investing in private mobile networks based in LTE or 5G, in the form of trials and pilot deployments, commercial network launches or investment in licences that would enable deployment of private LTE or 5G networks. This is likely to be a substantial underestimate of the overall global market.
In order to improve information about this market, GSA is now maintaining a database of private LTE and 5G networks and spectrum worldwide. That database now catalogues specific information about more than 150 of those deployments to enable analysis about the evolution of the private mobile networks market and is being added to on an ongoing basis. This report is the second in a series that will track the evolution of this sector of the industry.