Private 5G passed 2,000 enterprise deployments in the first quarter of 2026. The Global Mobile Suppliers Association counted 2,003 organizations using private cellular networks with contracts above €100,000 in the same period.
The numbers put a hard marker on a market that has moved beyond pilot rhetoric. The article says private 5G deployments are being driven mainly by sophisticated automation requirements and the desire to optimize industrial connectivity.
Private 5G demand is still tied to industrial use cases
That demand profile matters because it points to enterprise buyers treating private cellular as operational infrastructure, not a side project. The same article states that private 5G is growing at an annual rate of 37% since 2019.
What this means for private network buyers
For operators and integrators, the main signal is that private 5G has now crossed the threshold where deployment counts can be compared at scale rather than as isolated projects. The 2,003-organization figure also suggests that high-value contracts above €100,000 are no longer confined to a narrow set of early adopters.