An industrial network connects sensors, controllers, robots and machines with each other and with the software that runs production. Industrial 5G is one of its building blocks: a mobile network, often private, that adds to industrial Ethernet and Wi-Fi without replacing them. This guide covers the architecture of a plant network, its protocols, the role of wireless and the state of private 5G in France.
Industrial network and IT network: two approaches
The industrial network, or OT (operational technology) network, carries the data of production equipment. The IT network serves the company's information system. At Tech for Industry Show 2026, the speakers of the round table on IT/OT convergence summed up the difference: IT wants up-to-date, interchangeable systems with short life cycles; OT wants durability, because a machine is installed for around fifteen years.
The security stakes differ too. ANSSI, the French national cybersecurity agency, points out that industrial systems control physical processes: an attack can threaten people, property or the environment, not only data.
The architecture of a plant network
A plant network is read in layers, from the field to the information system:
- the field: sensors, actuators and drives, connected to controllers by a fieldbus or by industrial Ethernet;
- control: PLCs and robot controllers, which exchange data in real time;
- supervision and operations: SCADA, MES, production data collection;
- the information system: ERP, data platforms, cloud.
Between the shop floor and the information system, many manufacturers add an edge layer, which collects and formats data close to the machines. The Bel group, for example, has installed an edge platform in each plant to expose its machines in the same format, whatever their brand. The exchanges between these layers also need protecting: the show's Industrial cyber security topic covers this part.
The protocols of an industrial network
- Fieldbuses, such as PROFIBUS or Modbus RTU, are the historical shop-floor networks. They are declining: 14% of newly connected devices worldwide in 2025, down from 17% the year before, according to HMS Networks' annual study (June 2026).
- Industrial Ethernet adapts Ethernet to plant constraints, including real time. It accounts for 79% of newly connected devices in 2025, compared with 34% in 2015. The top three protocols make up three quarters of the market: PROFINET (30%), EtherNet/IP (25%) and EtherCAT (20%), ahead of Modbus TCP (5%). EtherCAT, for example, is described in the IEC 61158 standard and targets cycle times of 100 microseconds or less.
- OPC UA is a data exchange standard published in 2008 by the OPC Foundation. It runs from microcontrollers to the cloud, includes encryption and authentication, and describes the meaning of data, not only its value.
- MQTT is a very lightweight messaging standard for the internet of things, which works by publish and subscribe and uses little bandwidth.
For the speakers at Tech for Industry Show 2026, OPC UA and MQTT are complementary: the first structures and contextualises data, the second is used when volume and bandwidth come first, often at the edge.
The role of wireless
Wireless remains a minority: 7% of newly connected devices in 2025, a stable share according to HMS Networks. It complements the wired network where cabling is impossible or costly: automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), retrofitted machines, hard-to-reach sensors. Our guide to AMR and AGV robots covers these uses.
Exotec, a French manufacturer of logistics robots, for example delivers its warehouse systems with a dedicated Wi-Fi network. The company pointed out at the show that this network radiates beyond the warehouse walls, which makes it an exposure point to deal with.
Industrial 5G
For Arcep, the French telecoms regulator, 5G aims for ten times the throughput, a tenth of the transmission delay and better reliability than 4G. In industry, industrial 5G means a private network: a mobile network installed on a site, reserved for its equipment and teams, with its own frequencies.
5G also brings network slicing: several logical networks, isolated end to end, on the same infrastructure. The industrial association 5G-ACIA sees it as a way to separate production processes and give each one the service it needs.
Its industrial uses are those that require mobility and coverage of the whole site: mobile robots, augmented reality for maintenance, parts traceability, real-time quality control.
Private 5G frequencies in France
- Since March 2022, Arcep has offered manufacturers and other professional users a 5G experimentation window in the 3.8 to 4.0 GHz band. It had issued 175 authorisations by mid-2025, and around 90 trials were under way at the end of the second quarter of 2025.
- On 11/07/2025, the experimentation window was extended to the 4.0 to 4.2 GHz band.
- On 19/12/2025, Arcep opened an allocation window for the 3.8 to 4.2 GHz band for very high-speed mobile networks for professional use, with authorisations of up to 10 years. Applications are made through Arcep's portal.
A manufacturer can therefore operate its own 4G or 5G network on its site, alone or with an operator or integrator.
Where 5G stands in plants
HMS Networks' 2026 study describes strong interest in 5G but slow industrial deployment. The most frequently cited barrier is the complexity of private 5G infrastructure. Deployments are growing mainly in Asia.
An example: Airbus
Airbus has put a private 5G network, supplied by Ericsson, into service at its Hamburg production site and is deploying one in Toulouse, due for completion in 2026 (Ericsson press release, 06/10/2025). Airbus' 5G expert states that the aim is to migrate all the group's industrial networks to 5G. The projects cited are 3D simulation, augmented reality, parts traceability and predictive maintenance.
What manufacturers said at Tech for Industry Show
At Tech for Industry Show 2026, at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles, the round table on IT/OT convergence brought together Schneider Electric, the Bel group, Siemens and Renault:
- Renault started collecting its process data in 2017 and now has 25,000 connected machines. The group chose OPC UA for its common data model: a six-axis robot exposes around 1,500 parameters, but only about thirty are collected, depending on needs.
- Bel connects a fleet of 4,000 to 6,000 PLCs of all brands through an edge platform in each plant. Connectivity is funded separately, as an investment, which lightens every project that uses it.
- Siemens and Schneider Electric put OPC UA first as the interoperability standard, and MQTT for data volumes at the edge.
Read the article; the round table is available as a replay: IT/OT convergence: how to transform in order to adapt.
- Exotec presented the network architecture of its robotic warehouses: a dedicated Wi-Fi network, a system that is not directly exposed to the internet and strictly authorised flows with the customer's network. Read the article
The 2027 exhibitor equipping industrial wireless networks
To meet at Tech for Industry Show 2027:
- ACKSYS: a French manufacturer of Wi-Fi and cellular communication solutions for industry, including connectivity for AGVs and AMRs.
How to choose the network for an industrial site
1. Start from the uses: which machines, which data, what acceptable delay, which mobile equipment.
2. Keep wired links for exchanges between PLCs, robots and fixed machines, on an industrial Ethernet compatible with the installed base.
3. Choose a data standard, such as OPC UA, so that software reads machines of every brand in the same way.
4. Reserve wireless for mobile equipment and hard-to-reach points, using Wi-Fi or a private mobile network depending on coverage, mobility and the number of devices.
5. For private 5G, test first through a trial, then apply to Arcep for frequencies, alone or with an operator or integrator.
6. Separate and protect production networks, which control physical processes.
Frequently asked questions
What is industrial 5G?
A 5G mobile network, usually private, installed on an industrial site to connect its equipment and teams, with its own frequencies.
What are the main industrial network protocols?
For industrial Ethernet, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP and EtherCAT, which make up three quarters of the market, ahead of Modbus TCP; for fieldbuses, PROFIBUS and Modbus RTU; for data exchange, OPC UA and MQTT.
What is the difference between an OT network and an IT network?
The OT network connects production equipment and controls physical processes, with equipment that lasts around fifteen years; the IT network serves the information system, with shorter life cycles.
Does 5G replace Wi-Fi or cabling in the plant?
No: cabling remains dominant and wireless connects only 7% of newly connected devices. Private 5G is chosen for mobility and coverage of a whole site.
Which frequencies for a private 5G network in France?
The 3.8 to 4.2 GHz band, allocated by Arcep to professional users, for up to 10 years.
