CBRS market poised for 15% annual growth through 2027, driven by private networks

A new report from SNS Telecom & IT forecasts significant growth in the US Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) market, with annual investments in 4G/5G infrastructure expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2027. CBRS is a shared spectrum framework in the 3.5 GHz band (3550-3700 MHz) that enables both commercial and federal users to share wireless spectrum. This innovative three-tiered access system allows for dynamic spectrum sharing between incumbent federal users, priority access license (PAL) holders (such as wireless carriers), and general authorized access (GAA) users, making it possible for enterprises to deploy private wireless networks without traditional spectrum licensing costs.

This 15 percent compound annual growth rate reflects renewed enthusiasm following CBRS 2.0 regulatory updates that expanded coverage to 97% of US territory. The CBRS device market shows even stronger potential, with industrial IoT and fixed wireless access (FWA) equipment projected to generate $2.4 billion in annual sales by 2027. Currently, approximately half of the 400,000 active CBRS service devices utilize 4G/5G technologies across both GAA and PAL tiers.

Notable deployments include private 5G networks at Tesla, BMW Group, and Walmart facilities, while neutral-host implementations are gaining traction in enterprise spaces, healthcare facilities, and educational institutions such as Duke University and Arizona State University.