Integrated sensing and communication Market Outlook 2026–2036: Growth Drivers, Key Companies, Strategic Developments & Adoption Forecast — A Meticulous Next™ Foresight Brief

This Meticulous Next™ brief examines integrated sensing and communication, known as ISAC, in which mobile networks use their own radio signals to detect, locate and track people, vehicles, drones and objects while carrying calls and data. It tests whether sensing becomes a standard service of 6G networks by 2036, and what that means for network vendors, operators, chip and test suppliers and the businesses that would buy sensing data.

Operators are showing that the idea works on live networks. Vodafone and Tiami Networks showed on 26 February 2026 that a 5G network could detect unconnected objects, including people, using Open RAN radios without disrupting calls or data, and Samsung and Verizon reported in September 2026 a crowd detection trial at a large event in Dallas on commercial 5G infrastructure with no extra sensing hardware. The conclusion is that sensing can run on existing spectrum and base stations, which lowers the cost of a first service and moves the debate from feasibility to business case.

Standards are in progress but not final. The 3GPP studies in Release 19 extended the channel model for sensing and identified 32 use cases across healthcare, smart cities, transportation, industrial automation and public safety, and the Release 20 studies on NR sensing include an evaluation framework with draft detection targets for drones. The first normative 6G specification is associated with Release 21, and timing depends on study results. The conclusion is that vendors can sell sensing as a software feature in 5G-Advanced networks, and the full design of sensing in 6G will follow the standard.

The commercial case is narrowing. The trials so far report aggregate counts and heatmaps rather than detailed tracking, and none of the sources report accuracy, false alarm rates or cost. The conclusion is that early revenue will come from a few uses where cameras are not allowed or not practical, such as crowd monitoring, drone detection, intrusion alerts and infrastructure monitoring, and operators will need to price a new type of data.

The brief treats integrated sensing and communication as an accelerating signal with a ten year horizon to 2036. It identifies which network vendors, operators and test suppliers capture value as sensing becomes part of 6G. It is a focused 108-page decision brief that presents an indicative trajectory rather than a segmented market model.

ISAC uses the echoes of radio signals to detect objects, in the way a radar does, while the same signals carry communication. Vodafone describes it as an echo sensing method similar to the way bats map their surroundings, and says it can run on current mobile spectrum, base stations and smartphones. The conclusion is that sensing adds a software and processing layer to existing sites, and the cost of the first services is low compared with installing radar or cameras.

The standard defines the channel and the use cases. The Release 19 work extended the channel model with a background channel, a target channel and radar cross section models, and the Release 20 study on NR sensing sets an evaluation framework with draft targets of 5 percent for missed detection and false alarm probabilities in drone scenarios. The conclusion is that vendors now have common test conditions, which allows products from different makers to be compared.

Network based and device based sensing are different. In the Samsung and Verizon trial, a radio unit acted as a sensing receiver while smartphones supplied raw radio signal data, and the software ran on an edge platform with a virtualised radio network. The conclusion is that sensing links closely to virtualised and AI-enabled radio networks, so operators with those platforms start ahead.

Privacy is a design feature. The trials count crowds in aggregate rather than tracking individuals, and Vodafone points to privacy-friendly visitor counting without cameras. The conclusion is that data rules will decide which sensing services can be sold, and operators will need clear terms on what is collected.

The limits are the unproven accuracy in live networks, the interference between sensing and communication, privacy rules, the cost of edge processing and the unsettled 6G standard. The brief tests each limit against the evidence to 2036.

The integrated sensing and communication market, covering sensing-capable radio hardware and software upgrades, sensing platforms, analytics and applications that use mobile network signals, and related integration services, and excluding standalone radar, lidar, camera systems and Wi-Fi sensing, is valued at USD 0.04–0.08 billion in 2026 and is projected to reach USD 1.64–3.29 billion by 2036, at a CAGR of 45%.

The 2026 base rests on trial systems, pre-commercial software, test equipment and integration services. Growth then follows the number of base stations with sensing enabled, the price of sensing software and processing, the share of operators that sell sensing data and the spread of applications in public safety, transport and industry.

The forecast is sensitive to the timing of 6G standards, accuracy proven in live networks and the privacy rules that apply in each market.

The base case assumes that 6G specifications include sensing by 2029, that the first 6G networks launch about 2030 and that operators sell sensing services by 2032, bringing the inflection to about 2032 and a 2036 value near the middle of the range. An accelerated case assumes proven accuracy in 2027 and early sales to public safety customers on 5G-Advanced networks, moving the inflection to 2030 and lifting the 2036 value to the top of the range. A delayed case assumes weak accuracy and strict privacy rules, which keep sensing in pilots, moving the inflection to 2035 and holding growth at the bottom of the range.

Growth drivers

• Operator trials on live 5G networks.
• Standards work in 3GPP Releases 19 and 20.
• Demand for sensing in public safety, transport and industry.
• Low incremental cost on existing sites.

Enablers

• Open RAN and virtualised radio networks.
• Edge processing platforms.
• Common channel models and test conditions.
• Smartphone and base station signal measurements.

Restraints and barriers

• Unproven accuracy in live networks.
• Privacy and data rules.
• Interference between sensing and communication.
• Unsettled 6G standard.

The direction of integrated sensing and communication is set by proof of accuracy in live networks, the 6G standard, privacy rules, the cost of edge processing and the willingness of customers to buy sensing data from operators.

The brief assesses standards and policy, vendor and operator funding, radio and software readiness, edge and site readiness and operator readiness, and rates each force for direction, speed and confidence.

The key participants in integrated sensing and communication include Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Nokia Oyj, Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., ZTE Corporation, Qualcomm Incorporated, NEC Corporation, Keysight Technologies, Inc., Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG, Verizon Communications Inc., Vodafone Group Plc, NTT DOCOMO, INC., China Mobile Communications Group Co., Ltd., Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange S.A., SK Telecom Co., Ltd., KDDI Corporation, T-Mobile US, Inc., AT&T Inc., Telefónica, S.A., Tiami Networks, ETSI, 3GPP and the International Telecommunication Union.

The brief profiles representative participants in each archetype and assesses which are positioned to lead as sensing moves into 6G.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson and Nokia Oyj lead among network vendors with sensing features, Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc lead among operators in trials, and Keysight Technologies, Inc. and Rohde & Schwarz GmbH & Co. KG lead among test suppliers. Competitive intensity is low because few products are on sale.

Where value migrates.

In 2026 value sits with network vendors and software developers that run trials with operators. By 2030 it moves toward vendors with sensing features in 6G radio products and toward operators that win public safety and transport customers. By 2036 it settles with the operators and platforms that sell sensing data and analytics at scale, where data access, accuracy and trust carry the margin. Margins hold for suppliers with proven accuracy and privacy design and narrow for those that offer only raw detection.

Operator trials, standards work, demand from public safety and transport and low incremental cost support growth, while unproven accuracy, privacy rules, interference and an unsettled 6G standard hold back the pace.

Proof of accuracy, privacy rules or the 6G schedule could shift the pace. The brief therefore tracks four indicators: sensing features in commercial products, operators in trial, standards completed and sensing services sold.

Trials and software features first, then commercial services on 6G networks, then sensing as a standard capability of the network is the expected order of change.