Industrial players are accelerating investments in private 5G networks to enable secure, low-latency, and high-reliability IoT and edge AI use cases. High profile initiatives such as Aramco’s national industrial IoT network highlight a broader shift: enterprises are moving from reliance on public networks toward enterprise-controlled connectivity to support mission critical operations.
At the same time, the IoT connectivity landscape remains fragmented.
Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and Long-Term Evolution for Machines (LTE-M) continue to dominate low power IoT deployments where long battery life, deep indoor coverage, and low device complexity are more important than bandwidth. Typical use cases include smart metering, environmental monitoring, and utility infrastructure sensors. 5G incl. Reduced Capability (RedCap) appears for higher bandwidth and lower latency applications (e.g., video analytics, automation)
This creates a clear need for strategic guidance on technology selection, architecture, and business case realization.
How Private 5G and IoT fit together
Private 5G acts as the foundational infrastructure layer enabling scalable industrial IoT.
Deployment approaches differ depending on use case:
- Localized private networks (e.g. ports, airports, manufacturing plants) typically use higher frequency bands (e.g. 3.5 GHz) and focus on broadband, low latency applications
- Wide-area private networks (e.g. utilities, oil & gas, national infrastructure) use lower frequency bands (e.g. 450 MHz) and focus on coverage, deep penetration, and large numbers of low bandwidth IoT devices
Technology positioning:
Different connectivity technologies address different operational requirements. NB-IoT is optimized for static, low power devices requiring deep coverage, while LTE-M supports mobility-oriented use cases such as asset tracking and workforce wearables. Emerging 5G RedCap capabilities are positioned between traditional LTE IoT and full 5G, targeting industrial devices requiring moderate bandwidth and lower device complexity. Critically, LTE-based technologies will remain essential, as currently no true 5G alternative yet matches NB-IoT and LTE-M for ultra-low-power use cases.
Market momentum
Industry investment in private LTE and 5G infrastructure continues to accelerate as organizations expand automation, industrial IoT, and edge computing initiatives. While market forecasts vary significantly across research providers, most industry assessments point toward sustained growth driven by manufacturing modernization, utility digitization, logistics automation, and increasing demand for industrial connectivity resilience.
Real world deployments demonstrate operational value:
Manufacturing
Manufacturing has been shown as one of the leading private 5G adoption verticals because factories increasingly require connectivity for automation, robotics, machine vision, and predictive maintenance. Several deployments led by vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia, and Huawei demonstrate operational improvements through reduced wireless infrastructure complexity, improved mobility support, and consolidation of multiple industrial use cases onto a common network platform.
For example, Ericsson’s USA 5G Smart Factory[1] uses private 5G to connect production equipment, autonomous transport systems, sensors, and digital manufacturing applications on a common wireless platform. This has enabled manufacturers to monitor production in real time, adapt factory layouts more easily, and support mobile equipment and automated processes with more reliable connectivity.
Ports and logistics
Ports and logistics operators are using private LTE and 5G to improve asset visibility, automate operations, and support real time coordination across large operational environments. At the Port of Antwerp-Bruges[2], private wireless infrastructure has been deployed to support connected logistics operations, asset tracking, autonomous vehicles, and digital port services. The tangible impact comes from improved visibility of containers, vehicles, and operational assets, enabling faster decision-making and more efficient coordination across complex port environments. Dedicated wireless connectivity also supports remote operations and automation initiatives that would be difficult to deliver consistently using traditional connectivity solutions alone.
Energy, utilities, and mining
Energy, utilities, and mining organizations are increasingly using private LTE and private 5G to support smart grid modernization, remote monitoring, industrial safety communications, and autonomous operations in geographically challenging environments where public network coverage may be limited or inconsistent. These deployments often require hybrid connectivity architectures combining NB-IoT, LTE-M, private wireless infrastructure, and edge computing platforms to support large-scale sensor environments, mission-critical communications, and operational technology integration across dispersed industrial assets. Saudi Aramco’s industrial private network[3] initiative demonstrates the approach how private wireless infrastructure could support large-scale IoT deployments across geographically dispersed facilities and operational assets. The impact includes improved visibility of field operations, more reliable connectivity for remote monitoring systems, reduced reliance on manual inspections, and faster response to operational incidents.
Mission Critical Push-to-Talk (MCPTT) is also becoming an increasingly important use case for private LTE and 5G networks, particularly in utilities, mining, ports, and oil & gas environments where reliable workforce communications are critical for operational safety and coordination. In these scenarios, private wireless infrastructure can provide greater coverage control, resilience, and service prioritization than traditional public network environments.
Healthcare
Healthcare organizations are beginning to evaluate private LTE and private 5G as hospitals become increasingly dependent on connected medical devices, mobility enabled clinical workflows, and real time operational data. The Cleveland Clinic’s private 5G[4] implementation provides one of the best examples of private 5G adoption in healthcare. Built with a private 5G network, the hospital is using the platform to support connected medical devices, asset tracking, digital patient services, and future applications such as augmented reality, advanced imaging, and remote clinical support. The achieved impact is greater reliability and security for critical hospital systems, improved mobility for caregivers, faster access to clinical information, and a solid baseline for more connected and data driven healthcare operations.
Key challenges
From a Salience perspective, the key challenge for enterprises is not selecting a single connectivity technology but designing an operating model capable of integrating multiple connectivity layers, industrial applications, and edge/cloud environments. Individual domain challenges are also present:
- Technology challenges
- Immature ecosystem for 5G in low bands
- Gradually expanding device availability (especially RedCap)
- Integration across LTE, NB-IoT, and 5G layers
- Application efficiency challenges for IoT (battery usage, radio resource optimization)
- Business challenges
- Trade-offs between fully standalone private networks, MNO-integrated solutions (e.g., network slicing, shared core), and hybrid models
- Spectrum access and regulatory constraints
- Vendor fragmentation (telcos, hyperscalers, OEMs)
- Operating model challenges
- Ownership models (enterprise vs operator vs hybrid)
- Integration with IT/OT and edge/cloud environments
- Device provisioning and lifecycle management (e.g., eSIM for IoT, GSMA SGP.32)
Where the market is going
In our view, industrial connectivity strategies are increasingly shifting from standalone network decisions toward broader operational architecture planning. Enterprises are expected to combine private LTE/5G, public networks, Wi-Fi, and edge computing platforms depending on coverage, mobility, performance, and cost requirements. LTE-M and NB-IoT are also likely to remain important for low-power IoT deployments, while 5G RedCap is expected to expand into more advanced industrial use cases.
We also expect industries such as utilities, manufacturing, logistics, and mining to adopt more tailored connectivity models aligned with operational and regulatory requirements. At the same time, telecom operators and hyperscalers are increasingly moving beyond connectivity toward integrated service models combining network infrastructure, cloud, edge computing, and industrial platform capabilities.
Private 5G and IoT adoption is not a pure technology decision, it is a strategic transformation challenge. Salience can act as a vendor-neutral advisor bridging telecom, IoT, and industry operations, supporting clients from initial strategy through scaled deployment.
Key advisory areas Salience provides are along the Strategy & business case. Technology & architecture and Implementation & operating model
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Principal Consultant
