Will Townsend

Senior analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy

Private Networking 101

Will Townsend, Senior Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy will guide you through critical private networking infrastructure considerations. He will also educate us on the use of licensed spectrum, target industries, and applications; how 4G, 5G, and Wi-Fi deployments will co-exist; and broader deployment considerations.

Key points:

• Private networking infrastructure
• Licensed spectrum
• Target industries and applications
• The co-existence of 4G, 5G and Wi-Fi
• General deployment considerations

Podcast at a glance

Your introduction to the world of private wireless networks

The topic of private wireless is an area of increasing interest. As an introductory overview of the subject, let’s take a look at the following:

• Target industries for private wireless suppliers
• The co-existence of private wireless with WiFi
• General deployment considerations around private networking
• Nokia’s value-add and market positioning

Which industries will benefit most from private networks?

Certain industries are in position to benefit greatly from the introduction and growing prevalence of private wireless networking. These poster-child use cases include:

1. Port management and mining. Private networks within mining operations have already led to a 40 percent improvement in worker safety. With the ultra-fast throughput and low latency of 5G, that figure could double.

2. Manufacturing. Industry 4.0 is a buzzword around machine-to-machine communication and process automation. But the majority of non-carpeted enterprise and OT environments are currently a mish-mash of wireless technology. Cellular connectivity is poised to be a serious disruptor in this space.

3. Agtech. Integrating technology, cloudification and connectivity can improve farming and ranching and lead to bigger crop yields and livestock yields.

4. Energy and utility grid management.

What options are there for deploying private wireless networks?

The key consideration when it comes to deploying private networks is that there is no right or wrong answer. One size definitely does not fit all.

There are several options:

Cellular technology will be able to complement systems in the non-carpeted environments of an enterprise, where things have been less well connected. The conclusion has to be that WiFi, 4G and 5G will work well together.

Your introduction to the world of private wireless networks

The topic of private wireless is an area of increasing interest. As an introductory overview of the subject, let’s take a look at the following:

• Purchasing your own equipment and installing it yourself
• Working with an operator, such as AT&T, TMobile or Verizon, that provides private networking solutions
• Using it as a cloudified or managed service from a company offering PWaaS

Much depends on how savvy your company’s IT team is. Additionally, you may not want to treat this as a capital expense and would rather treat it as an operational expense. The good news is that there are several options available to enterprises wishing to deploy private networks.

Where does Nokia stand in the market in terms of its value-add?

Independent experts have noted that Nokia has invested more heavily than its traditional competitors such as Huawei, Ericsson and Samsung. The Nokia Enterprise business unit has achieved several hundred customer wins

Inevitably, those competitors will continue to advance their propositions. However, the current conclusion is that, with its experience and the IP assets at its disposal, Nokia is leading the charge in terms of the capabilities available when it comes to private wireless networking.