• Hutchison Telecom's corporate-market revenue rose 43% in the first half of 2026
  • Local service revenue stayed flat even as 5G penetration reached 64%

The fact

Global investment in private 5G and LTE networks for defence is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 24%, reaching nearly $2.5bn cumulatively between 2026 and 2029, according to SNS Telecom & IT. The research points to programmes including the US FutureG initiative, South Korea's private 5G work for unmanned and remote operations, Germany's D-LBO land-operations programme, Spain's BACSI smart-base initiative and the UK's Project Morpheus.

The research says permanent and transportable private cellular networks are being deployed at military bases, training facilities and the tactical edge. It describes private 5G as one part of military communications rather than a replacement for every existing radio system. Public mobile networks continue to support personal connectivity and some non-sensitive applications, while private cellular is being considered where defence organisations require greater control over access, configuration and local network operation.

The assessment

The change is in the technology base available to defence buyers. Compared with a wholly proprietary communications system, a 3GPP-based private network can draw on standards, chipsets, radios, cores and devices developed for the much larger commercial cellular market. Military programmes can then apply their own security, operating and deployment requirements to that foundation rather than developing every network component around a dedicated communications system.

That does not remove the integration work. Defence organisations still have to decide where the network core sits, which spectrum it uses, how devices are authenticated, where traffic is processed and which commercial components meet programme requirements. Private 5G also does not necessarily mean complete separation from a public mobile operator. The level of isolation and local control depends on the architecture chosen for each deployment.

For BTW readers, commercial cellular gives defence buyers access to a wider technology base, but the military value comes from how that technology is controlled, secured and integrated. The procurement test is therefore not simply whether a programme adopts 5G, but who takes responsibility for turning commercial network components into infrastructure that meets military operating requirements.

What to watch

Watch for Hutchison to disclose more detail on corporate revenue, contract wins and service margins. The useful comparison will be whether enterprise growth remains above local mobile growth while margins improve. Changes in 5G penetration, roaming revenue and enterprise customer numbers will show which part of the business is carrying the next stage of growth.