MCPTT & Broadband PTT Market: 2025 – 2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts

MCPTT (Mission-Critical PTT) is an evolution of PoC or PTToC (PTT-Over-Cellular) technology aimed at meeting or exceeding the performance of mission-critical group communications in digital LMR (Land Mobile Radio) systems, such as APCO P25 and TETRA. Besides enabling voice services with fast call setup times, clear audio quality in high-noise environments, priority/preemption, and other differentiating features, MCPTT solutions may also incorporate MCVideo (Mission-Critical Video) and MCData (Mission-Critical Data) capabilities. The three services are collectively referred to as MCX or MCS (Mission-Critical PTT, Video & Data) in 3GPP terminology. MCPTX and PTX (Push-to-Anything) are additional marketing terms that some suppliers use.

It is worth noting that both carrier-integrated and OTT (Over-the-Top) solutions for non-mission critical PoC or broadband PTT services have been in existence since the 2000s, aimed at improving collaboration and productivity for commercial business users across a diverse range of sectors. If iDEN – a 2G cellular technology – is taken into account, the very first PoC deployments date back even further to the 1990s. MCPTT and broader MCX services are a more recent addition to the market and are largely driven by public safety broadband, FRMCS (Future Railway Mobile Communication System) readiness, utility grid transformation, and Industry 4.0 digitization initiatives.

AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Southern Linc, Telus, Bell Canada, SFR, KPN, Swisscom, Telia, Føroya Tele, Plus (Polkomtel), STC (Saudi Telecom Company), Omantel, Telstra, Telecom Argentina, and many other public mobile operators have either deployed or are in the process of launching MCPTT service offerings to expand their B2B (Business-to-Business) customer base among first responders and other critical communications user groups. MCPTT functionality has also been implemented in purpose-built critical communications broadband networks such as South Korea’s Safe-Net and LTE-R networks; United States’ FirstNet – via AT&T but with direct integration into a dedicated core network; United Kingdom’s ESN (Emergency Services Network); France’s RRF (Radio Network of the Future); Hub One’s private cellular network in Paris airports; Spain's SIRDEE (State Emergency Digital Radiocommunications System); Italian Ministry of Interior's public safety LTE platform; Tampnet’s offshore private 4G/5G networks; Finland's VIRVE 2.0 mission-critical broadband service; Türkiye’s KETUM hybrid narrowband-broadband system; Oman’s public safety broadband network; Qatar MOI’s (Ministry of Interior) private LTE network; and Nedaa’s 4G network for critical communications in Dubai.

Many, but not all, of these aforementioned MCX deployments are supported by eMBMS (Evolved Multimedia Broadcast-Multicast Service) technology to facilitate large-scale group communications in a resource-efficient manner, particularly in the PPDR (Public Protection & Disaster Relief) sector. Additionally, multiple options are available for LMR-broadband interoperability, including 3GPP-compliant IWF (Interworking Function) solutions for network-to-network integration between LMR and MCX systems, which have recently been deployed in national markets as diverse as the United States, Sweden, Australia, and Argentina.

While some end user organizations are already migrating from legacy LMR systems to broadband networks, the general consensus in the public safety community is that a complete LMR-to-broadband transition is not possible without the commercial availability of 5G NR sidelink-enabled chipsets. 5G sidelink technology enables 3GPP devices to communicate directly without relying on network infrastructure, much like direct mode operation in LMR systems, which is especially useful for firefighters and other first responders operating in coverage-limited spaces inside buildings, stairwells, multi-level basements, and tunnels or disaster scenarios in remote locations not served by the network. To address the gap in D2D (Device-to-Device) communications functionality, frontrunners have initially adopted interim solutions, including LMR-based RSMs (Remote Speaker Microphones) and hybrid LMR-broadband devices. Following recent lab and field demonstrations, there are also realistic hopes of seeing production-grade implementations of MCX over the 5G sidelink interface in the coming years.

SNS Telecom & IT estimates that MCPTT and broadband PTT service revenue will grow at a CAGR of approximately 11% between 2025 and 2028, eventually accounting for more than $12 billion by the end of 2028. Although non-critical broadband PTT services will continue to constitute the bulk of subscriptions, much of this growth will be driven by 3GPP standards-compliant MCX service offerings, which are increasingly being adopted by business and mission-critical end user organizations of all sizes across a host of industries. Examples range from the KNPA (Korean National Police Agency) and NFA (Korean National Fire Agency) with their 140,000 and 20,000 MCX-equipped user terminals respectively to mid-sized and smaller organizations including but not limited to the City of Buenos Aires, Icon Water, Turkish National Police in Adana, NS (Dutch Railways), Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, Rijkswaterstaat, WLE (Westphalian State Railway), SGP (Société du Grand Paris), Groupe ADP, DHL, Faroese first responders, AdventHealth, Georgia State Patrol, Dallas (Georgia) Police Department, and many state/local first responder agencies in the United States.

The “MCPTT & Broadband PTT Market: 2025 – 2030 – Opportunities, Challenges, Strategies & Forecasts” report presents an in-depth assessment of the MCPTT and broadband PTT market, including the value chain, market drivers, barriers to uptake, enabling technologies, operational models, application scenarios, key trends, future roadmap, standardization, case studies, ecosystem player profiles, and strategies. The report also presents global and regional market size forecasts from 2025 to 2030, covering MCX/PTT software and infrastructure, end user devices, subscriptions, and service revenue. These forecasts cover three submarkets, two standards compliance categories, five software and infrastructure segments, four device form factors, 10 vertical industries, and five regional markets.

The report comes with an associated Excel datasheet suite covering quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report.