Last week at the Private Networks Global Forum there was an excellent session with Arvin Singh, head of global 5G solutions engineering at Verizon and part of the US carrier’s private 5G global go-to-market team. Singh was speaking with Bruno Thomas, chief technology officer at the Wireless Broadband Alliance (WBA), ostensibly talking about the concept of neutral hosted networks as the “killer app” for private 5G. Eventually the conversation got more wide-ranging, discussing the role of cellular in the enterprise more broadly, with some touching on the neutral hosted model here and there. Here’s a summary of the key takeaways:
1 | Private Cellular is both old and new
Don’t get us wrong: Private cellular is like a new technology, with all the optimism that it brings, and even more so because it’s more special. Indeed, enterprise cellular has been around for a while, said Singh at the Private Networks Global Forum. “We’ve been in the private network space for about 15 years,” he said, referring to distributed antenna (DAS) and license-assisted (LAA) and aggregated (LWA) systems for enterprise setups. But the liberalization of spectrum in many global markets has changed that, allowing companies to rent their own airwaves and allowing various service providers to sell their services in almost any market.
This is “what’s unique and different right now,” Singh said. But perhaps unsurprisingly, given traditional carrier sensitivity about spectrum ownership, the reference to spectrum was brief or skewed behind a parallel story of how cellular technology itself has changed, not just with the development of 5G standards, but especially with smaller, simpler core networks and radio access (RAN) systems. “As an industry, we’re in a different position. Technology is modernizing rapidly,” Singh said.
“[With] The miniaturization of radio and core network equipment has made it possible to offer dedicated, private, on-premise indoor/outdoor networks that are designed and built to address specific business use cases and problems. Industries can benefit from this type of network experience that is tailored to their use cases.
2 | Building a business case for neutral hosts
The impact of smaller, simpler LTE/5G systems is not just about ease of management, of course. It’s also about cost, as it always has been, if any new technology is to gain credibility in tough industrial markets. If presented as a fully managed service solution, as Verizon’s enterprise team sells it, private cellular might even seem like a light investment, Singh suggested. “Think about the IT burden it will take off your IT staff and the ease of deployment.” [because of] Reduced wiring [compared to fixed Ethernet or higher-volume Wi-Fi installations]” he said.
But more than that, the emerging neutral host model, where new LTE/5G systems operate on both carrier-independent channels for general business communications and private dedicated channels for critical business communications, means the investment case will explode and be secured by multiple departments and companies. “The neutral host network is a game changer,” says Singh. [are] It will be an important driving force [for] The introduction of civilian 5G, and [will] Enables next generation use cases… Potentially significant benefits from a CapEx/OpEx perspective… [Because] [private 5G] “It’s an IT-funded network.”
He continued:[Whereas] Enter the neutral host… [and it] It’s a network that anyone can use. [and] Real estate, OT partners and other business divisions work together to [funding for] “This next-generation network”
3 | 5G is complementary, but better
The above points regarding Private Cellular special Of course, it’s not just because they’re smaller, simpler, or cheaper than before. It’s simply better. Better 5G is for more high-performance applications and means higher performance when compared to other wireless technologies. Either way, that’s Singh’s conclusion. When asked by WBA chairman Bruno Thomas how 5G will blend with traditional enterprise connectivity technologies, he replied: [5G] The value proposition is much more interesting.”
Actually, that’s not entirely fair. Singh directly and indirectly justified both enterprise customers and technology vendors in arming their application arsenals with different technologies before rightfully declaring 5G the most powerful weapon. The argument goes: “There are many different types of network modalities, and there is so much evidence… [for] Industrial-grade deployments in logistics, oil and gas, energy and manufacturing – [whether for] Replacing or augmenting Wi-Fi networks.”
“IoT can be advanced and expanded on private networks. In scenarios where manufacturing facilities have ground robots such as AGVs and AMRs, there are Wi-Fi dead spots and handoff issues…” [and] Congestion…The concept of a securely connected 5G fabric, offering high speeds, low latency, predictable performance and the ability to assign quality of service to different applications and profiles, [5G] It’s very interesting, and frankly, the value proposition is much more interesting than the ways we’ve connected in the past.”
4 | The future of private 5G is now – 6G is still a ways off
Another thing, which dampens the hype but makes it tangible, is that 5G is a developing technology. Singh reflected: “5G is packed with huge potential, much of which is yet to be realized. More than 315 operators around the world have deployed commercial 5G networks, and we are seeing a lot of progress, be it the advancement of macro networks, the transition from NSA to SA architecture, or the realization of slicing. [and] URLLC can also be applied to private network infrastructure,” he said, also noting near-term opportunities with limited-capability (RedCap) 5G for low-power industrial IoT.
He added that these evolving network capabilities strengthen the business case for private 5G. [5G] Alternative Network [for Wi-Fi]Frankly speaking, [they are] Very complementary. But it really depends on the use case. It depends on the short-term use cases, but also on the long-term use cases – your vision for the future, your applications for Horizon 3. [an enterprise wants to enable]. that [kind of thinking] “5G is really going to shape network investments,” said Singh, meaning 5G is the safer bet in the long term.
Asked by Thomas about longer-term developments as 6G begins to emerge more prominently in operators’ minds, he was of the view that 5G is indeed a commercial proposition, close enough and new enough to support industry transformation, and that 6G is a strong standardization effort that will likely not be properly featured in commercial discussions for another decade. “Technology advancements require a tremendous effort… and many of the lessons learned from 5G and 5G Advanced will shape the future of 6G,” he said.
“But these technologies [are] On paper, it has been 10 years of preparation to ratify the standards, [schedule] Ability and things like that. [they are deployed] When deployed on a large scale, [still] It will take time. Networks will last 30-40 years. 6G is a post-2030 experience and is not designed for all uses. Private [5G] It’s a promising opportunity 1723918122 This makes it a more interesting proposition because operators will be putting their networks in places where they normally don’t build public infrastructure.”
5 | Experience is built – and it’s everything
Another message from Singh at the Private Networks Global Forum was that the telecommunications industry, or the operator community within it, or simply Verizon Business, has learned a lot, and quickly, about how to design, sell, build and manage private cellular networks for the enterprise: “Frankly, we’ve learned a lot in the last four years, from proof of concept to proof of value. [to] Commercial deployment. There’s a ton of evidence that gives us confidence that this is real, that it works, that it solves problems, and that customers can see ROI pretty quickly.”
And, as a sort of sales pitch, he ended with a warning that experience matters in the private enterprise network market, and companies need to choose carefully: “Today, in the open spectrum ecosystem, there are many players. [in this] work. [Enterprises] I really want to do it [their] Ensure technical due diligence [they] We partner with the right provider to deploy a scalable network without the need for a big forklift and with a future roadmap that allows us to grow with software upgrades.”
Verizon is that partner. of course – message was sent.
