2023 Private 5G Showcase

Chris DePuy, Co-founder and Analyst at 650 Group, highlighted the anticipated growth of the private cellular market, projected to reach $1-2 billion in five years, serving key verticals and segmented into outdoor and indoor uses. DePuy also revealed that 650 Group has published multiple research reports on the private cellular market, including topics on equipment, software, telecom core, and the public ran market.

Charlie Ashton, Senior Director of Business Development at Napatech, highlighted the financial challenges operators face when scaling up private wireless networks, emphasizing the need for user support optimization and energy consumption reduction. Napatech offers solutions that enhance packet core performance, support more subscribers, and reduce data center costs and energy consumption by offloading the data plane to a SmartNIC, partnering with packet core software vendors and server OEMs to ensure end users can utilize their technology.

Amar Kapadia, CEO of Aarna Networks, identifies manageability, cost, and purpose as the three key elements hindering the growth of private 5G networks. To address these issues, Aarna Networks is developing an orchestration and management solution for private 5G, aiming to make it as manageable as Wi-Fi, cost-competitive, and a network that connects edge computing applications to end devices.

Siân Morgan, Research Director for the Enterprise WLAN at Dell'Oro Group, reports a significant expansion in the enterprise-class wireless LAN market, with three consecutive quarters of over 40% YoY revenue growth due to the increased importance of wireless LAN in operations during COVID-19. Despite supply constraints and rising costs, revenues remained high and are expected to return to normal growth patterns beyond 2025, with new features such as access to the 6 GHz band and AI operations enhancing the capabilities of wireless LAN equipment and the emerging trend of campus network-as-a-service simplifying Wi-Fi for enterprises.

Parm Sandhu, VP of Enterprise 5G Products & Services at NTT, highlighted that customers are more interested in achieving business outcomes such as automation, worker safety, and productivity, rather than just purchasing a network or edge compute. NTT has been successful in meeting these needs by starting with the desired business outcome, working out the financials, and offering private 5G as a service, which allows customers to switch to a monthly subscription model, with a focus on providing secure, robust, and reliable communication for mission-critical use cases.

Phil Mottram, EVP and GM of HPE Aruba Networking, discussed the increasing demand for private wireless networks, particularly 5G and cellular networks, in sectors like military, ports, warehouses, factories, and mines that have struggled to modernize their technology. Following HPE Aruba Networking's recent acquisition of private networks specialist Athonet, Mottram underscored the significance of edge applications, showcasing a security application that uses cameras for potential threat detection.

Leonard Lee, Executive Analyst at neXt Curve, highlights the challenges of private 5G, including its heterogeneous nature and scalability issues, and notes that the industry is still in a discovery process with limited deployments. Despite the difficulties, Lee predicts that there will be high-value use cases that present opportunities in the future.

Stefan Pongratz, Vice President and Analyst at Dell'Oro Group, discussed the evolution of private wireless, noting its shift from macros to small cells and now to enterprise wireless, and its accelerated growth due to the availability of the CBRS spectrum. Despite private wireless currently representing only 1-2% of the overall RAN market, Pongratz revealed a 60% year-over-year growth in private wireless RAN revenues in 2Q 2023, but cautioned that it will take time for it to become a larger market share.

Glenn Laxdal, President and CEO of Airspan Networks, discussed the company's progress in private wireless networks, identifying two categories: in-building coverage for neutral hosts and private wireless for mission-critical applications. He predicted significant deployments in the neutral host market using 4G and 5G small cells, and highlighted the interest from the hospitality and education sectors, emphasizing that Airspan's solution can be deployed quickly and cost-effectively.

Milind Kulkarni, VP of Engineering at InterDigital, spoke at the Mobile World Congress about the financial challenges companies face when implementing 5G networks, and emphasized InterDigital's commitment to making 5G more accessible. He also highlighted the role of the 3rd Generation Partnership Project in standardizing systems for global interconnectivity and praised the congress for fostering industry collaboration.

Derek Peterson, CTO of Boingo, underscored the growing significance of private wireless networks and the necessity for a unified security management approach, replacing traditional firewalls with a zero trust concept. He stressed the importance of enterprises understanding their specific use cases and collaborating with neutral host providers like Boingo, which can offer a comprehensive understanding of various technologies and provide a converged solution, thereby reducing the major deployment costs associated with private wireless networks.

Neville Meijers, Chief Commercial Officer of JMA Wireless, advocates for the potential of private wireless to drive industry change and is currently in discussions with various industries about using JMA's unique platform for this purpose. The platform, already used by Caesars for in-building coverage and expected to be used for other enhanced services, is also being considered for future use in running a private wireless system.

Sandro Tavares, Director of Telecom Systems Marketing at Dell, emphasized the need for a holistic approach to private 5G, focusing on the business proposition and benefits for end users, and not just the technology. He highlighted the importance of vendors offering a comprehensive package that includes the necessary components to deliver the desired outcome for enterprises, and mentioned Dell's efforts to create an open ecosystem for telecom solutions, collaborating with partners to build and validate solutions in areas like private 5G

Greg Collins, founder of Exact Ventures, discussed the company's quantitative market research in wireless infrastructure markets, with a focus on private or enterprise 5G and LTE networks. Collins highlighted the potential of private 5G or LTE to expand revenues and grow the wireless services market, and the firm's work with clients on their specific use cases for core networks, including the future potential for more integration with unified communications as private networks mature.

Jeff Aaron, VP of Enterprise Marketing at Juniper, revealed that while private 5G has garnered interest, it is not a primary focus in their current roadmap, with the company instead prioritizing AI Ops automation and insights to improve user connections and experiences. Aaron also highlighted the growing interest in Network as a Service (NaaS), a flexible solution that transitions acquisition from a capital to an operational expenditure, and predicted its uptake beyond the commercial space.

Steve Douglas, Head of Market Strategy at Spirent, disclosed that early adopters of private wireless networks are experiencing a return on investment within six months due to the benefits of 5G, including increased productivity and reduced costs. A survey by Spirent involving over 200 enterprises revealed that business outcomes and security are the primary drivers for adopting 5G in private networks, with the technology unlocking value in areas like video monitoring.

How can 5G technology revolutionize education at a Polytechnic University? William (Bill) Britton, VP IT and CIO from Cal Poly explains: - The establishment of a 5G Innovation Lab to evaluate the potential of 5G technology for the university - Developing a blueprint for the future of networking at a Cal Poly, where data is crucial for various applications - Helping public sector partners and other entities understand and get comfortable with 5G technology for their own use

How can 5G technology revolutionize the educational experience for students? Miyu Nishii, Digital Innovation Project Manager (and 4th year Business Information Systems student) from Cal Poly explains how having a private 5G testbed: - Enhances classroom experiences with new engagement models - Empowers business students to analyze large amounts of data quickly and efficiently - Faciliates computer science projects, such as chatbots, to be more accessible and efficient across campus

Wondering how to transform broadband connectivity and support 5G research on a university campus? Kurt Schaubach, CTO from Federated Wireless, explains how they collaborated with Cal Poly to achieve this goal by: - Partnering with AWS and T-Mobile to deploy and operationalize a private 5G network - Introducing a unique neutral host capability to augment carrier connectivity on campus - Expanding coverage and emergency services to previously challenged areas like Poly Canyon and inside the William and Linda Frost Center for Research and Innovation

Looking for ways to improve cellular coverage in hard-to-reach areas? Carl Temme, SVP Products from Federated Wireless explains: - How Cal Poly utilized a private wireless network to address coverage gaps - The implementation of a neutral host network to host public cellular services - The partnership with T-Mobile to provide seamless connectivity for subscribers Don't miss out on this insightful discussion on innovative solutions for private cellular coverage!