A lot happened with private 5G in 2025, from major supplier Nokia altering its approach to the market late in the year, to the continuing kerfuffle over CBRS, to major customers going all-in on private 5G.
So let's get into it:
Nokia's (possible) private surprise
The major Western supplier of private 5G surprised everyone in late November by saying that it plans to possibly sell-off its enterprise and campus edge business and focus on mission-critical private networking. SNS Telecom & IT 5G Research Director Asad Khan said at the time that the campus business will undergo a 12-month review into whether it should be sold.
Nonetheless, new Nokia CEO Justin Rotard seems more interested in the multi-million-dollar contracts offered by mission-critical deployments rather than piecemeal campus deals. Khan said that doesn't mean that Nokia won't offer its 5G radios and core equipment for campus deployments. It will just rely on system integrators and operator partners to sell that gear.
CBRS Kerfuffle
AT&T said in October 2024 that it wanted to move the Citizen's Band Radio Service (CBRS) down from its 3.5 GHz perch - where a multitude of enterprise users utilize the shared spectrum - down to the 3.1-3.3 GHz band, and auction off the 3.5 GHz band for full-powered 5G services. This wasn't popular with enterprise customers, established vendors or private network startups.
Despite the unpopularity, the Department of Defense - or War, or whatever - appears to be onboard with the AT&T approach. So, the CBRS worries will continue into 2026.
Private 5G booms
Private 5G and LTE boomed in the back half of 2025, which will continue into the rest of the decade. "By 2030, private networks could account for as much as a fourth of all mobile network infrastructure spending,” the SNS analysts claimed in their third quarter private network report.
The analysts said that around 1,300 private networking projects were added during the year, up from 900 the year before. SNS expects that private network spending will exceed $7.2 billion by the end of 2028.
New entrants
There are large contenders still entering the private networking field in 2025. HPE is a notable new entrant to the market.
HPE built a "temporary smart city" for the Ryder Cup, using its own branded 5G gear. So, despite Huawei, Nokia, Ericsson, ZTE and Samsung dominating the market, there are still new startups and larger companies coming onboard.
A tale of two private 5G cities
Ericsson is taking a very different approach to private networks than Nokia these days. While Nokia is only going after big mission-critical contracts, Ericsson is still very much going after every part of the public networking game.
The Swedish company has been steadfast in going after private networking prizes in 2025. From the as-yet unannounced Tesla private 5G deals to Lufthansa and roadside assistance company, AA, Ericsson has scored plenty of private network agreements.
AvidThink's Roy Chua has said that Nokia's narrower focus likely portends "a more measured growth rate" for its private wireless business. We'll see how that plays out for Ericsson and others in 2026.