So far, the 5G blogs we’ve written have been about public 5G networks, but there’s a whole new category of mobile network services. While a mobile private 5G network is technically the same as a public 5G network, in that it has both a 5G Core and a Radio network, it is owned privately based on a licensed wireless spectrum. The owner is a Manufacturer, Retailer or University, it really helps set up wireless networks where speed, coverage, and security go beyond what Wi-Fi can provide. This blog introduces Private 5G networks and their uses.
Introducing Private Mobile Networks
As shown in the above illustration, a private 5G network is a mobile network typically owned by a corporation or commercial or educational institution and not open to the public. Private networks can use licensed, unlicensed, or shared spectrum such as in the US where Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) is used. The architecture of a private 5G is essentially the same as those of a commercial public 5G network being built by CSPs (Communication Service Providers). Industries such as manufacturing, logistics, and transpotation will lead the way in adopting private 5G as remote areas, rural areas and shop floors may not always have the best connectivity.
The key factors that make a 5G network private as opposed to a public network are –
- Private 5G networks are built, owned and operated by a business or government agency. This entity owns the entire network, the spectrum and the edge/central cloud that makes up the 5G network
- The network is a lighter footprint and scale when compared with the public 5G
- All the traffic running on the network is monitored and leveraged by the private entity
So what are the key things about Private 5G?
There are four key considerations about Private 5G networks that industry watchers should know of –
- Private 5G is especially applicable in industries that need to support remote edge sites or that need reliable, fast, and low latency connectivity. In Industry 4.0 applications, industrial machines, robots, vehicles, etc., can all be connected easily. Private 5G will enable businesses to build high bandwidth applications such as AR/VR, and industrial automation. Other industries include healthcare (hospitals and labs),
- In the government space, the military will also drive private 5G connectivity with the need to provide battlefield coverage. For military applications, the Private 5G network will need to support rugged modular devices (such as AWS Snowcone) which can enable the rollout of flexible infrastructure
- Private 5G is an extension of the edge. Given all the activity around edge clouds around hyperscalers, Cloud providers such as AWS will become natural congregators of Private 5G networks. Partnerships with ISVs such as Nokia, Ericsson, Affirmed Networks (part of Microsoft), Metaswitch and Athonet, etc will cater to the needs of various customers in this space
- Once the initial networks have been built, AI, ML and Analytics capabilities will be leveraged to build business applications. Data from these operations will be used to create new revenue streams on top of Private 5G networks.
Conclusion
When private 5G networks reach critical mass, deployments will span not just one or ten companies but across hundreds to serve various industries. The speed at which a net new 5G network can be installed, operationalized and integrated with backend applications will dictate how well scale can be achieved. The next blog post will discuss why hyperscalers are the best way to deploy a Private 5G network.
Featured Image by Hands off my tags! Michael Gaida from Pixabay