U.S. Tariff Policies Could Hurt Private 5G Market (ABI Research Report)
Research firm ABI Research recently released a new report examining the impact of U.S. tariff policy on the technology industry. In it, the report notes that the current uncertain tariff policy may also negatively impact the private 5G market....
2025/06/03
Posted on 2025/06/03
Research firm ABI Research recently released a new report examining the impact of U.S. tariff policies on the technology industry. In it, the report notes the potential for the current uncertain tariff policy to negatively impact the private 5G market as well.
The report explains that many of the private 5G components-hardware, software, and services-are developed and manufactured outside the United States. It goes on to point out that hardware such as RAN equipment and private 5G cores may incur a price add-on of up to 25%, the cost of which could be passed on to customers. This, he said, is a sufficient reason for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and others to be discouraged from deploying private 5G.
On the other hand, the report also points out that vendors offering software-based private network platforms are less susceptible to tariff policies and may have an advantage. This is because these providers are able to deploy their services in a flexible and relatively hardware-independent manner through collaboration with major cloud providers such as AWS and Microsoft Azure.
Shadine Taufik, research analyst at ABI Research, commented that "markets like private cellular rely heavily on customers' willingness to invest in new infrastructure for innovation," and that "U.S. tariff policies could have a significant impact on mobile network operators (MNOs) and The U.S. tariff policy could have a significant impact on the sales of mobile network operators (MNOs), system integrators (SIs), and even infrastructure vendors," he commented.
