From automotive manufacturing plants to football stadiums, private 5G networks are reshaping how British enterprises connect, compete and innovate.
Private 5G on the verge of mainstream adoption
Private 5G networks are on the verge of mainstream adoption, with a market potential exceeding that of previous generations of cellular technology. Their real-world impact is becoming increasingly visible through accelerated investments by industrial giants and other end-user organisations to support diverse applications such as autonomous transport systems, mobile robots, remote-controlled machinery and high-definition video transmission, while reducing reliance on unlicensed wireless and hard-wired connections.
Growth in production-grade private 5G network deployments
In recent months, there has been a noticeable increase in production-grade deployments of private 5G networks by both commercial and public sector organisations, particularly in countries where national frequency regulators have made shared or locally licensed spectrum available for local wireless connectivity applications in a way that can be more reliable than licence-exempt technology and more customisable than the wide area networks of mobile operators. This regulatory shift has been a foundational enabler of a market environment in which equipment vendors, system integrators, and mobile operators compete to deliver the most effective private 5G solutions at the best price for end-user organisations.
Status of shared access licence allocations & industrial private 5G networks in the UK
The UK is no exception to this trend, where around 930 shared access licences across four distinct bands have been issued to 118 licensees. The bands include n3 (1.8 GHz), n40 (2.3 GHz), n77 (3.8-4.2 GHz) and n258 (26 GHz), with Band n77 spectrum being most widely employed for private 5G networks in industrial settings.
For example, luxury automaker Jaguar Land Rover has installed a Band n77-enabled standalone private 5G network at its Solihull plant to provide connectivity for sensors and data within the plant’s five-storey paint shop, which had previously been left unconnected due to the cost and complexity of wired Ethernet links. Spanning 18 radio nodes operating in low-power licences, the network has also resolved Wi-Fi-related challenges, including limited device connections, poor signal penetration in the metal-heavy environment and unstable handovers between access points along the production line.
In Croydon, Crystal Palace Football Club has deployed a private 5G network at Selhurst Park stadium, its home ground, to provide high-speed and low-latency connectivity for a revolutionary vision enhancement system that enables fans with sight loss to experience football matches in exceptional detail.
Another high-profile deployment is a multi-site private 5G network that is being delivered to industrial campuses across the Thames Freeport special economic zone in East London and Essex. The sites include DP World London Gateway and Logistics Park, Port of Tilbury, and Ford Dagenham. The project aims to enhance port and manufacturing operations through applications such as AI (Artificial Intelligence)-driven data analytics, autonomous vehicle control and real-time logistics orchestration.
What the future holds for the UK’s private 5G market
SNS Telecom & IT currently tracks over 500 projects across England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland within our global database of private network engagements, with the market underpinned by diverse use cases in vertical industries such as agriculture, broadcasting, construction, defence, education, forestry, healthcare, manufacturing, transport, and warehousing.
We project that annual spending on private 5G network infrastructure in the United Kingdom will grow at a CAGR of approximately 30% between 2025 and 2028, cumulatively accounting for more than £520 million by the end of 2028.
