Private 5G is making an impact – can telcos seize the day?

5G may not have been the fast track into enterprise that operators expected, but 5G private networks are now delivering efficiency and cost improvements in a broad swathe of verticals.

Research company SNS Telecom, which has compiled a report tracking dozens of 5G private networking use cases worldwide, expects total spending in the segment will reach $3.5 billion by 2027.

Most of these will be localized 5G networks covering small areas for high-throughput and low-latency industry 4.0 applications, it said.

The early adopters are affirming their faith in private 5G's potential by investing in new shared and licensed spectrum options, in partnership with either telcos or private network specialists.

The big attractions are 5G's ultra-low latency, massive M2M capabilities and the smooth transition path to 6G, enabling it to become a viable alternative to physically wired connections between machines, robots and control systems.

Thousands of 5G nodes

The global leader by a long stretch is China, where industry is being driven by national directives to accelerate 5G as part of its ambitious industrial transformation program.

The largest private 5G deployments in China can comprise thousands of dedicated RAN nodes supported by on-premise or edge cloud-based core network functions, SNS said.

For example, home appliance manufacturer Midea's Jingzhou industrial park hosts 2,500 indoor and outdoor 5G access points over 104 acres, while Wuhan Iron & Steel Corporation has installed a dual-layer private 5G network, spanning 85 multi-sector macrocells and 100 small cells, to remotely operate heavy machinery.

Outside China, some of the notable projects include:

The diversity of these successful use cases is no doubt heartening news for operators with under-utilized 5G investments weighing on their balance sheets.

But the path to monetization is less clear. As with other enterprise services, telcos are going head to head against industry specialists with deep relationships and strong domain expertise, not to mention OTT cloud players that offer enormous scale.

How to win the business and price it profitably is the challenge ahead. Getting it wrong could mean operators will be relegated to simple connectivity providers. 

Getting it right will likely depend on attracting the right partners and in building their strengths in just a small number of key verticals.