February 2023

Part of the promise of the 5G era has been one of bespoke connectivity. Intelligent innovation and automation are becoming part of the workplace as Industry 4.0 delivers digital productivity to manufacturing processes, while government organisations and education campuses have local connectivity requirements. As hyperautomation connects factory robots to data networks, as education and business become reliant on connected technology, 5G has become a component of both industrial agility and economic competitiveness.

Over the last few years, regulators increasingly have been requested to provide harmonised IMT spectrum for applications other than public mobile networks. These requests have tended to come from companies, industries, or public sector organisations (socalled ‘verticals’) for use in private networks. Making spectrum available for industry users has to be balanced against demand from other users, including mobile operators who have increased spectrum needs as mobile data traffic grows. This report, prepared for the GSMA by Aetha Consulting Limited analyses the potential approaches available to regulators for providing spectrum to private networks. Through five country case studies it demonstrates the wider impact of these approaches, especially on mobile markets.