5G, I am sure you would have heard of this term, the latest and greatest in wireless communication technology. Many of you already use a 5G network on your phones today. For others, a 5G upgrade would be around the corner or on the essential checklist for your next mobile device. However, did you know there is more to a 5G network than just another generation of wireless communication? Have you heard of a “flavour” of 5G, called a Private 5G, targeted entirely towards businesses and enterprises? If not, then this blog post is just for you! We’ll explore private 5G networks, their benefits, and how they differ from traditional public 5G and Wi-Fi networks. Let’s dive in!
What is a Private 5G Network?
A private 5G network is a dedicated network built for a specific organisation or enterprise. Unlike public 5G networks, which are owned and operated by service providers, private 5G networks are owned, managed, and operated by the enterprise itself, this gives the enterprise complete control over the network, its security, and the voice & data it carries. Great, but how does that benefit my customers? Well, let’s explore these in more detail.
Benefits of Private 5G Networks for Enterprises
A private 5G network has many benefits over a public 5G or 4G network. Some of these are:
- Security: Private 5G networks are much more secure than public 5G networks, as they are not open to the public. The owner organisation manages and maintains them and has complete control over the data and voice carried over this network. This makes them ideal for organisations that deal with sensitive information, such as government agencies, financial institutions, and healthcare providers.
- Dedicated: An extension to being secure, a Private 5G network is dedicated entirely to one customer and can be independently deployed and managed.
- Reliability: Did you know that during peak network utilisation (such as concerts, sporting events and shopping fests), the network operators can throttle your mobile network bandwidth? With a private 5G network, an enterprise can ensure the network is always available when needed. This is especially important in industries where downtime can lead to significant losses, such as manufacturing, transportation, and emergency response.
- Customization: Private 5G networks can be tailored to meet the specific needs of an enterprise. For example, an enterprise can choose the frequency and bandwidth and how to slice these based on its needs. Note that the use of each of the frequency bands available to an enterprise will need authorisation from the local communication body (e.g., FCC in the USA)
- Cost Savings: Private 5G networks can save enterprise money in the long run, as they do not need to pay for access to a public network.
Now the question that demands an answer is – which Industry sector can benefit from the Private 5G networks?
Well, the answer is ALL OF THEM. Private 5G networks can benefit a variety of industry verticals that require secure, reliable, and high-speed connectivity. However, for the sake of this blog, let’s limit this discussion to some of the leading industry verticals. For example:
- Retail: Enhance the customer experience through augmented reality and interactive displays, real-time analysis of foot traffic and sales of merchandise in the retail stores
- Energy: Monitor and control critical infrastructure, such as power grids and oil & gas pipelines, over a secure, private network.
- Healthcare: Securely transmit patient data, telemedicine consultations, and remote surgeries. Keep confidential patient data within a closed, secure network.
- Government: Secure critical communications and improve the efficiency of operations in areas such as defence, public safety, and border control.
- Manufacturing: Connect machines and sensors on the factory floor, enabling real-time data collection and analysis.
- Transportation: Connect autonomous vehicles, track cargo in real-time and improve traffic management.
- Financial Services: Securely transmit sensitive financial data, improve mobile banking and payment services, and enable real-time trading and analysis.
- Media & Broadcasting: Remote production using compressed real-time, in-sync multi-camera feeds from the field.
Okay, but my I am happily using my Wi-Fi network; why would they consider Private 5G?
That is an excellent “elephant in the room” question. The answer is not one over the other; both complement each other in different use cases. It is like comparing a needle and a sword – while both are sharp and pointy, we cannot use a sword where a needle is required.
Wi-Fi 6, the latest generation of Wi-Fi technology, brings many benefits, including higher data rates, increased capacity, better performance in device-teeming environments and improved power efficiency. The coverage distance limits it and is more suitable for indoor coverage. In comparison, Private 5G can be deployed in all indoor and outdoor environments, such as a university campus and underground, like basements and mines.
Private 5G has an advantage over Wi-Fi 6 in speed, latency, network efficiency, security, reliability, mobility, etc. However, they can serve different use cases due to the requirements and Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) considerations. In critical use cases requiring highly reliable, low-latency connectivity and wide-area deployment, Private 5G is better suited.
Wi-Fi 6 is suited to indoor or local area deployments and use cases requiring high-speed and best-effort traffic. Private 5G and Wi-Fi 6 share over-lapping territory in indoor use cases where reliable and predictable connectivity is not required. Private 5G and Wi-Fi 6 could also co-exist and work better in a converged network to support different use cases.
Private 5G also has a massive advantage when used in a highly dense environment with many connected devices in a small area. A 5G network supports up to 1 million connections per sq KM paving the way for a world where everything can always be connected. Additionally, a 5G network architecture allows roaming between Private and Public networks even when the device moves at very high speeds (such as a car on a motorway or a drone covering a large geographical area). A 5G network architecture offers an extremely low and predictable latency compared to an equivalent Wi-Fi 6 network. This makes a Private 5G better suited for latency-sensitive use cases such as financial trading, hospitals, factory floors, and autonomous driving vehicles.