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Private 5G is growing, but it is not replacing private LTE overnight. The Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) identified 2,003 organisations deploying qualifying private LTE or 5G networks in 2026; it says 5G’s share is rising steadily while the move from LTE remains gradual. That total counts both technologies, not 2,003 private 5G deployments.
How many private 5G networks are there?
There is no single public count of private 5G networks in the figures cited here. GSA’s June 2026 data identifies 2,003 organisations worldwide deploying at least one private LTE or 5G mobile network worth more than €100,000, across 88 countries. The total combines LTE and 5G, and counts organisations rather than network sites or individual networks.
GSA reported 1,384 customer references in its 4Q23 summary, published in 2024, using the same greater-than-€100,000 reference definition. It also reported a 28% increase in customer deployments from 1Q23 to 4Q23 and at least one private mobile network in 77 countries. These figures indicate growth in the market, but the different reporting dates and units do not establish how many of the 2026 organisations use 5G or how many sites they operate.
The published record is incomplete: 76% of GSA’s references in 2026 were non-public and unique to its database; in its 4Q23 summary, 68% were non-public. GSA notes that activity can be especially difficult to see in sensitive areas such as defence, maritime and power plants. Public counts therefore describe documented deployments, not the whole market.
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Why are private 5G networks rolling out slowly?
Many organisations are migrating from private LTE
Private 5G is often a technology transition, not a greenfield replacement. Organisations with working private LTE systems may upgrade when a business need justifies the cost, rather than replace equipment across every site at once. GSA describes the 5G share as rising steadily while the LTE-to-5G transition remains gradual; its published figures do not give a split showing whether LTE or 5G is more common.
The case depends on operations, not the 5G label
GSA says operational requirements are driving demand, with sectors moving at different speeds according to cost, coverage and performance priorities. A site may need reliable connections across a large industrial area, support for specialised devices, or a particular level of performance. If its existing network meets those needs, the potential advantages of 5G alone may not justify immediate migration.
Industries have different economics and requirements
GSA’s 2026 organisation counts show that private mobile networking is not confined to factories. The figures cover organisations deploying qualifying LTE or 5G networks; they are not counts of 5G-only deployments.
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| Sector | Organisations identified by GSA in 2026 |
|---|---|
| Manufacturing | 387 |
| Education and academic research | 171 |
| Mining | 146 |
| Defence and peacekeeping | 130 |
| Device testing and lab-as-a-service | 119 |
| Power utilities | 119 |
Those settings create different design and investment questions. A campus, factory, mine and utility operation may have different coverage areas, device requirements, reliability needs and consequences of interruption. The most suitable network and the business case for changing it therefore vary by site.
Spectrum access helps, but it does not settle the business case
Dedicated or set-aside spectrum can be part of a private-network plan, but access to spectrum by itself does not guarantee adoption. A 2024 GSMA study found no quantifiable impact of spectrum set-asides on private-network adoption, pointing to the importance of economics and execution as well as licensing policy.
In a separate analysis, GSMA associated an additional 100 MHz of spectrum with download speeds 24% higher. That finding concerns the analysis’s relationship between spectrum and speed; it does not show that adding 100 MHz causes private-network adoption or produces the same result at every site.
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Which industries are adopting private 5G first?
The available sector figures identify adopters of private LTE or 5G together, not which industries are first to adopt 5G specifically. Manufacturing has the largest identified count, followed by education and academic research, mining, defence and peacekeeping, then device testing and lab-as-a-service and power utilities. The counts are organisations, not a ranking by deployment size, investment or 5G uptake.
It is also important not to confuse broad public-network forecasts with private-network adoption. GSMA Intelligence forecast in 2024 that 5G connections would exceed half of mobile connections by 2029. That is a forecast about mobile connections overall, not a forecast that half of private networks—or half of the organisations in GSA’s count—will use 5G by that date.
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How to compare private LTE and 5G proposals
Compare the proposed network with the operation’s requirements and the existing infrastructure. Ask vendors and operators to explain the following before treating a 5G upgrade as necessary:
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- Technology and migration: Is the proposal for LTE, 5G or both? If the organisation already has private LTE, what needs to change now, and can the transition happen in stages?
- Coverage and spectrum: What indoor and outdoor areas must be covered, and what spectrum is actually available for the site?
- Performance and reliability: What latency, reliability and device-density requirements does the operation have, and how will the proposed design address them?
- Total cost: Include radios, the core network, integration, support and spectrum—not only the price of network equipment.
- Deployment scope: Is the project a trial or a commercial service, and how many locations or operational areas does it cover?
- Responsibilities: Who is accountable for network design, security, integration and ongoing operations: the organisation, vendor, mobile operator or a combination?
These questions help distinguish a real operational need from a technology refresh without a clear business case. They also make proposals easier to compare when one supplier is offering a limited trial and another is describing a larger commercial deployment.
What the rollout pace means
Private 5G is expanding, but the evidence points to gradual, uneven adoption rather than a rapid, universal switch. GSA’s 2026 total shows a substantial base of organisations using private LTE or 5G, while its account of a steadily rising 5G share and a gradual migration from LTE explains why those two trends can coexist. For an individual organisation, the practical question is whether 5G solves an operational problem well enough to justify the migration—not whether the technology is available.
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