Push-to-Talk Over Cellular Market

Market Overview

The global push-to-talk over the cellular market size was valued at USD 4,221.4 million in 2022. It is estimated to reach USD 8.025.9 million by 2031, growing at a CAGR of 7.4% during the forecast period (2023–2031). The deployment of LTE networks and the increase in the number of internet users around the world promotes market growth.

Push-to-talk over cellular solutions facilitates group communications across a dispersed workforce in an organization or industry. Industries in manufacturing and production continuously require consistent communication across the production line. In addition, safety and emergency services industries depend highly on push-to-talk systems. Consequently, a substantial increase in the demand for push-to-talk over cellular technology is anticipated. This is because it offers a secure and dependable means of communication for teams across various industries and organizations. With advancements in push-to-talk over cellular networks and software, additional features like GPS tracking and monitoring have been incorporated into the equipment. Furthermore, the software now contains video-on-demand (VoD) applications.

Market Dynamics

Global Push-to-Talk Over Cellular Market Drivers:

Deployment of LTE Network

The advent of long-term evolution (LTE) networks in mobile communication networks has replaced land-mobile radio communication technology to facilitate communication in more expansive areas. Terrestrial Trunked Radio (TETRA), Third generation (3G), Project 25 (P25), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and the Internet of Things (IoT) have evolved over the years with the high deployment of various applications. This has instigated the development of a significant bandwidth architecture that underpins mission-critical push-to-talk (PTT), push-to-start, push-to-locate, and push-to-message communications services. Such subtle trends are observed in the global market and are highly important in public safety companies.

Consequently, there has been a rise in the requirement for push-to-talk solutions and a significant increase in demand for communication services that facilitate interoperable communication during crises or accidents.

Increase in the Number of Internet Users Around the World

Push-to-talk over cellular equipment and connecting solutions have extended communications beyond voice's sole function, including data transfer, video, and connectivity with backend systems. This has propelled the deployment of push-to-talk over cellular networks across the globe that maintain half-duplex push-to-talk communications with the resistance to interference offered by cellular phones. Thus, the rise in internet users worldwide is a significant factor driving the market growth during the forecast period.

In addition, the emergence of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band includes a mid-band spectrum between 3550 and 3700 MHz over cellular pus-to-talk services. Some wireless internet service providers already use a portion of the band unlicensed to provide fixed wireless service. While CBRS primarily emphasizes 4G LTE services, there are no limitations on utilizing the 3.5 GHz range for emerging 5G services. Many nations prefer the mid-band spectrum, specifically the 3.5 GHz band since it has emerged as a crucial component of the strategy for next-generation spectrum allocation. For instance, in the U.S., 3.5 GHz, also known as the CBRS band, has been tapped for shared access with opportunities for operators and enterprises to add additional capacity and invest in private networks. This is also expected to drive the market's growth in the coming years.

Global Push-to-Talk Over Cellular Market Restraint:

Presence of Latency and Gaps in Communication

Communication latency gaps in the network create a backhaul for communication transmissions. The need for efficient fiber networks in major countries is restraining the deployment of fiber backhaul from supporting push-to-talk over cellular. For instance, the UK has one of the lowest levels of fiber penetration at 2%, while the European average stands at 9%. Major countries, including the UK, are incentivizing fiber network investments and introducing relief plans on new fiber network infrastructure to cope with the lack of fiber networks. This is expected to restrict the market's growth to a certain extent. Moreover, additional costs for enhanced network coverage and high-speed connectivity are anticipated to hinder the market's growth.

Global Push-to-Talk Over Cellular Market Opportunities:

Deployment of Next-Generation 5G Networks

The demand for 5G infrastructure to support IoT use will increase in the upcoming years. The industry is projected to find profitable prospects in cases like massive IoT, which necessitate extremely high connection densities of up to 1 million devices per square kilometer, with low data rates per device. The market's growth is driven by the more advanced deployment of 5G in countries such as the U.S., China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. The rising need for edge computing and the escalating volume of data produced by IoT devices is anticipated to fuel the desire for enhanced data speeds.

5G technology will provide unparalleled communication speeds, enhance the user experience, and improve real-time data processing capabilities. In addition, by 2024, 5G networks are expected to carry nearly one-third of the mobile data traffic globally. With the rise in mobile data traffic, the demand for technically advanced telecommunication networks will be high. The deployment of the 5G network will provide efficient network quality to consumers.

Regional Analysis

North America Dominates the Global Market

Based on region, the global push-to-talk over cellular market is bifurcated into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA.

North America is the most significant global push-to-talk over cellular market shareholder and is estimated to exhibit a CAGR of 7.5% over the forecast period. Modern industries in the U.S. are shifting toward automated business technologies that help them easily optimize business processes. Furthermore, North American enterprises are employing push-to-talk over LTE networks, which allow firms to take advantage of extensive commercial coverage that surpasses that offered by private or shared LMR networks. This significant aspect is anticipated to propel the market's expansion in the North American region. In addition, North America boasts the largest concentration of players who excel in push-to-talk over cellular, including Bell Canada, AT&T, Inc., and other companies based in this region.

Europe is anticipated to expand at a CAGR of 8.5% over the forecast period. The European legal framework supporting the dissemination of Industry 4.0 in the internal markets is revolutionizing how businesses operate in this region. The high availability of push-to-talk over cellular solutions that are 3GPP and OMA PoC-compliant software is a significant factor expected to boost European market growth. Evolving manufacturing and logistics industries in Europe are also likely to support the market's growth in the region. Moreover, the UK is considered one of the major industrial players in shifting toward digital transformation owing to favorable European government initiatives.

In Asia-Pacific, the emergence of new technologies and trends, especially those associated with the advent of the Industrial Revolution, are rapidly evolving and shaping a robust digital ecosystem that supports e-commerce. In addition, logistics and transportation businesses in Asia-Pacific are embracing new technologies with quickly growing networks, such as big data analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), and virtual reality (VR) with 4G and 5G networks to meet growing customer needs, befit greater customization, and maximize convenience and security. The primary reason for the growth of the push-to-talk over cellular technology lies in its potential to reduce communication costs.

In LAMEA, there is a rise in network development activities as numerous operators are testing 5G services due to the diversity of urbanization, population, and mobile developments. According to MENA operators, some are planning to deploy non-standalone (NSA) network architecture, through which they can use existing macro sites and LTE spectrum as an anchor connection. This is a factor expected to support the market growth in the region. Moreover, push-to-talk over cellular solutions are highly suitable in various field applications to handle voice and field force automation and, thus, create cost improvements and further benefits by increasing efficiency due to faster communication and improved group communication.

Segmental Analysis

The global push-to-talk over the cellular market is bifurcated into components and applications.

Based on the component, the global push-to-talk over the cellular market is bifurcated into equipment, software, and services.

The equipment segment dominates the global market and is projected to exhibit a CAGR of 7.4% over the forecast period. The ability of push-to-talk over cellular devices that provide collaborative and integrated solutions, such as group communications, is a significant factor expected to drive the growth of the segment in the market. In addition, push-to-talk equipment enables interconnected Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) and cellular networks with advantages such as two-way radio, which is also expected to support the segment's growth and boost the market's growth.

Based on application, the global push-to-talk over the cellular market is bifurcated into public safety and security, construction, energy and utility, transportation and logistics, manufacturing, government and defense, travel and hospitality, and others.

The public safety and security segment owns the highest market share and is predicted to exhibit a CAGR of 6.9% over the forecast period. The public safety industry continuously tests the equipment and services offered to determine operational readiness and compliance in the challenging public safety environment. Wireless broadband voice services continue to complement and co-exist with land mobile radio (LMR). Still, the advent of commercially available wireless broadband voice services, such as push-to-talk over cellular, is replacing LMR systems. Public safety's use of PTT systems is expected to continue its dominance, owing to LTE's ability to provide broadband technology with improved mission-critical voice services.

Recent Developments

• May 2023- Motorola Solutions announced the acquisition of Wave Relay's assets, a supplier of PTToC solutions for enterprises.
• January 2023- KT Corporation, South Korea's significant telecommunications carrier, announced the debut of a new PTToC service dubbed "KT 119."