The chorus of industry voices is now drawing our attention to the rise of private networks. As the world becomes increasingly smaller owing to rising connectivity, private networks offer the opportunity to further shrink the world of business while ensuring elevated interactions and seamless communication.
Today, high-speed, ultra-reliable, low-latency, high-density, power-efficient, wireless connectivity has become essential for enterprises. As such it hardly comes as a surprise to see enterprises looking for solutions that help them manage their sprawling wireless LAN ecosystems.
Data has also become an essential commodity in the wake of a growing appetite for 5G and WAN connections. Safeguarding data also now emerges as a top priority.
Private networks are becoming uniquely positioned to offer a solution to these challenges. They promise enterprises the capability to keep their data protected while providing the capacity and superior connectivity needed to realize the advantages of technology applications such as M2M and IoT.
What are private networks?
A private network is a telecommunication network that is built and operated by a telecommunication provider and is built specifically for an individual enterprise. These networks are usually deployed on a single site and extended across the length and breadth of the enterprise. Private LTE/5G networks can also help address wide-area network requirements, such as a utility’s need to monitor a transmission network.
While a private network needs similar elements as a public network, these networks are different from public mobile networks in some specific ways. That said, they can capably manage and provide support to the wide-area network requirements of the enterprise while supporting tools acquired from the consumer smartphone market.
The private networks, however, need spectrum. The spectrum can be leased from a carrier or another spectrum owner. These networks also need a virtualized core, be it as proprietary equipment from a vendor or disaggregated hardware and software from one or more different vendors. The core can also be commodity hardware that runs open-source software.
Apart from containing the database of subscribers and SIM management, the core ensures complete control over how and which users connect and their usage parameters. The other functions of the core include traffic shaping, billing and data plan rules, quality of service rules, and network monitoring-related parameters.
Private networks improve speed, latency, privacy, and security for enterprise network operations. This is so because the network traffic stays bounded “on-premise” and does not need to be sent back and forth to a core network in a distant location.
With the world moving towards becoming even more connected than it is today, the growing value of data and increasing data needs of technologies such as IoT, leveraging private networks seems like an attractive next step for enterprises. For telecom providers, this spells tremendous opportunity. They stand to gain as enterprises lean towards high-performing and reliable wireless networking solutions to drive business outcomes.
New factors contributing to the continuing rise of private networks
The role of private networks in enterprise operations is well understood. As we have seen, the use-cases are many and the benefits clear. The interesting thing now is the many new application scenarios, use-cases, and prospective user segments that are emerging to further drive up the buzz around private networks.
The conversation around digital transformation has become increasingly louder. This has changed how data is viewed, stored, collected, and analysed. This is compelling regulators to contemplate and help create an environment that enables responsible usage of data and other public resources in enterprise digital transformation paradigms. Given this, regulators across the globe have to look at models to drive spectrum licensing by taking inspiration from the existing licensing models across Germany, the UK, or the US (shared licensing) model.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic also cannot be ignored in contributing to the rising demand in private networks. Schools, districts, municipalities, and other segments that do not fall under the addressable market associated with private networks need digital capabilities. As such they are now looking at deploying private LTE networks to add and leverage digital capabilities that will increase their reach and improve accessibility.
For telecom providers, the focus, so far, has been towards enabling enterprise mobility and WAN networks. However, with telecommunications becoming the lifeblood of the modern enterprise, telecom providers now have ample opportunity to increase their service portfolio and help enterprises embrace digital transformation and keep pace with technological transformations.
However, before we realize the true potential of private networks, telecom providers will have to address the existing network slicing challenges. Network slicing is one of the most compelling capabilities promised by 5G. Telcos will have to identify how to apply different slices to different enterprises connecting to their core network while ensuring that the same is not implemented among different application types and device groups within the same enterprise. As such telcos will now have to understand enterprise IT needs better and build compelling programs to address the enterprises’ communication needs.
Enabling technology adoption, driving digital transformation, and cloud-enabled/driven everything is table stakes now for enterprises. For telecom providers, this spells tremendous opportunity. Talk to us to understand more about the possibilities and challenges of adopting such next-gen technologies.