A new industry report, Public Safety LTE & 5G Market: 2025–2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts, highlights significant growth and accelerating global adoption of LTE and 5G technologies as core platforms for public safety communications.

The report provides a comprehensive assessment of the public safety LTE and 5G ecosystem, covering the full value chain, including network infrastructure, terminal equipment, applications, systems integration and management solutions, as well as subscription- and service-based revenue streams.

According to the study, annual global investments in public safety LTE and 5G infrastructure and devices reached approximately USD 5 billion in 2025, driven by a combination of new nationwide initiatives and the expansion of existing dedicated, hybrid government-commercial, and secure mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) and multi-operator core network (MOCN) deployments.

The report notes that a wide range of fully dedicated, hybrid, and secure MVNO/MOCN-based public safety LTE and 5G networks are already operational or currently being rolled out across multiple regions worldwide, reflecting strong institutional confidence in broadband-based mission-critical communications.

From a technology perspective, the study emphasizes that the commercial availability of 3GPP standards-compliant capabilities—including mission-critical services (MCX) for push-to-talk, video, and data; quality of service, priority and pre-emption (QPP); high-power user equipment (HPUE); isolated operation for public safety (IOPS); and other critical communications features—has positioned LTE and 5G New Radio (NR) as comprehensive platforms for public safety operations.

Key use cases identified in the report include real-time video streaming, high-resolution image sharing, multimedia messaging, mobile field and office applications, location services and mapping, situational awareness tools, unmanned asset control, and other broadband-enabled capabilities. These services increasingly complement—and, in some cases, converge with—mission-critical voice and narrowband data services traditionally delivered via land mobile radio (LMR) systems.

The study suggests that 3GPP-based networks are approaching the point at which they can fully replace legacy LMR systems, supported by a “future-proof transition path.” This evolution is expected to be further strengthened by advanced 5G features such as multicast-broadcast services (5G MBS/5MBS) for MCX in high-density scenarios, 5G NR sidelink for off-network communications, vehicle-mounted relays (VMRs), mobile gNBs with wireless access backhauling (MWAB), non-terrestrial network (NTN) integration, and support for lower 5G NR bandwidths within public protection and disaster relief (PPDR) spectrum bands.

In addition, the report highlights that 3GPP-compliant MCX services are becoming a foundational component of nationwide public safety broadband networks. Multiple procurement contracts have recently been awarded for gateway-enabled interoperability solutions and 3GPP standards-based Interworking Function (IWF) technologies, enabling seamless system-level interworking between LMR and MCX platforms during periods of parallel operation.

The integration of next-generation emergency services is also gaining momentum. The report underscores growing adoption of NG911 systems, live video feeds from body-worn cameras, drones, and vehicles, advanced 3D geolocation services, artificial intelligence-driven analytics, and situational awareness platforms. Rapidly deployable network assets, direct-to-device satellite connectivity, and enhanced in-building coverage are likewise becoming critical components of modern public safety broadband strategies.

Beyond government-funded national programs, the study observes that public mobile network operators in several markets are promoting 5G network slicing over newly deployed standalone 5G cores as a viable alternative to dedicated public safety networks. At the same time, independent small- and medium-scale private 5G networks are increasingly being deployed to meet specific operational and mission-driven requirements.