Rapidly Deployable Public Safety 5G Networks a $700 Million Opportunity, Says SNS Telecom & IT

SNS Telecom & IT's latest research report indicates that cumulative spending on rapidly deployable LTE and 5G network assets for public safety broadband communications will exceed $700 Million between 2022 and 2025.

Over the last two years, COWs (Cells-on-Wheels), COLTs (Cells-on-Light Trucks) and other deployable LTE network assets have played a pivotal role in facilitating mission-critical communications, real-time transmission of video footage, and improved situational awareness for incident command and emergency response needs – for instance, the mobilization of AT&T's FirstNet deployables during the wildfire seasons of 2021 and 2022 in the United States.

5G NR-equipped portable network systems are also beginning to emerge. For example, Verizon Communications has introduced THOR's Hammer, a nearly 30-foot trailer that is able to act as a locally managed private 5G network – operating in C-Band and mmWave (Millimeter Wave) spectrum – for providing coverage in areas where network connections and coverage can be challenging or where natural disasters like earthquakes or hurricanes have damaged existing infrastructure. Within the framework of a U.S. DIU (Defense Innovation Unit)-led project, the California National Guard is trialing rapidly deployable private 5G network equipment – using the 3.5 GHz CBRS band – to provide reliable, ad-hoc data and voice services to civil and military emergency response teams operating anywhere in the State of California.

In China, the Lishui Municipal Emergency Management Bureau is using private 5G slicing over China Mobile's network, portable cell sites and rapidly deployable communications vehicles as part of a disaster management and visualization system. In neighboring Taiwan, the Hsinchu City Fire Department is using an emergency response vehicle that can be rapidly deployed to disaster zones to establish high-bandwidth, low-latency emergency communications by means of a satellite-backhauled private 5G network based on Open RAN standards. Multiple first responder agencies in Germany are also evaluating the use of portable NPNs (Non-Public Networks) – operating in 3.7-3.8 GHz local area licensed spectrum – to enable emergency personnel to communicate with each other and control unmanned firefighting vehicles, reconnaissance robots and drones.

Most recently, Telenor, Intel and the Norwegian Air Ambulance have jointly demonstrated the use of a proof-of-concept 5G NOW (Network-on-Wheels) platform in a disaster scenario. Specifically, the demonstration showcased how a transportable private 5G network can provide first responders with better situational awareness based on AI (Artificial Intelligence)-processed video of the disaster scene transmitted from 5G-equipped drones. Between 2022 and 2025, SNS Telecom & IT expects cumulative spending on deployable LTE and 5G network assets for public safety broadband communications to exceed $700 Million. These findings are part of SNS Telecom & IT's latest research report on the public safety LTE and 5G market.

The “Public Safety LTE & 5G Market: 2022 – 2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” report presents an in-depth assessment of the public safety LTE and 5G market, including the value chain, market drivers, barriers to uptake, enabling technologies, operational models, application scenarios, key trends, future roadmap, standardization, spectrum availability/allocation, regulatory landscape, case studies, ecosystem player profiles and strategies. The report also presents global and regional market size forecasts from 2022 till 2030, covering public safety LTE/5G infrastructure, terminal equipment, applications, systems integration and management solutions, as well as subscriptions and service revenue.

The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report, as well as a list and associated details of over 1,150 global public safety LTE/5G engagements – as of Q4’2022.