Ten years ago, if an enterprise or public sector organisation wanted to procure a private wireless communications network, their choices were largely limited to land mobile radio (LMR) for voice and Wi-Fi for data. Leaving aside mission-critical users, such as emergency services, there are now more options for businesses to choose from.
Push-to-talk over Cellular (PoC) is a mature technology and readily available as a complement or alternative to LMR. Wi-Fi continues to evolve and remains widely used, but more
recently it has faced a challenger technology in the shape of private 4G LTE and 5G networks.
The benefits of LMR
The benefits of LMR are well established. Small enterprises, operating on relatively restricted sites and with relatively few users, can opt for unlicensed two-way radios operating in direct ‘back-to-back’ mode. It is a simple and cheap way to get a private voice network.
Larger sites with more users will need to acquire spectrum licences to operate. The advantage of LMR is that RF coverage and capacity can be specifically tailored to the size and topography of the site, and the required numbers of talk groups and end-users. LMR supports end-to-end encryption, so it is highly secure.
It can also be made highly robust and resilient by adding protective redundancy elements, physically hardened infrastructure and even backup generators for reserve power. What this means is that the end-user has complete control over their own communications network.
LMR’s biggest advantage for enterprises is that unlike fixed telephony and cellular smartphones, it provides instant push-to-talk (PTT) and text messaging to particular groups of people at the same time, which makes it a very efficient way to communicate. It can also be used for individual calls and, in some cases, broadcast and ‘all-calls’ to everyone on the network.
Modern digital LMR technology enables disparate sites to be linked via either wireless or fixed IP network links, so wider area networks can be catered for. Far more applications are available these days compared with earlier analogue LMR systems, including highly sophisticated dispatching facilities.
Other features are also widely available. These include GPS location tracking and location services, software that automates workflows/triggers alarms to help increase situational awareness, safety and efficiency. Gateways can connect LMR systems with cellular smartphone and fixed telephony networks, while dual-mode narrowband/broadband devices
offer the best of LMR and cellular in a single device.
Overall, LMR systems still provide the major advantages of enabling customers to have complete control of their own secure private network. But it does mean investing in and maintaining physical infrastructure such as base stations, repeaters, amplifiers, antennas – and spectrum licences.
PoC now viable
LMR remains a popular choice in many sectors, including private security, hospitality, education and retail. However, PoC does now provide an alternative.
The big attraction of PoC is precisely the opposite of LMR – namely, that there is no need to invest in any infrastructure equipment or spectrum licences as it operates over existing public 2G/3G/4G mobile networks and Wi-Fi.
The enterprise/user gets instant LMR-style PTT one-to-one and one-to-many calling, but without the hassle and expense of buying the equipment. It just has to buy or hire the devices, SIM cards and subscriptions and arrange cloud-based network management services with its PoC platform provider (or host the cloud services itself). This can make PoC a very appealing choice.
Not only does the user benefit from PTT individual and group calls, but coverage is nationwide, so for enterprises with dispersed facilities or mobile workforces, this is a big advantage over local LMR networks. It is also possible to use SIM cards that roam across all national mobile networks.
Devices range from those that just provide simple PTT radio services to others that are also fully fledged cellular smartphones with access to rich multimedia broadband applications, including video.
The major disadvantage of PoC is that although the enterprise’s network is private and accessible only by authorised users and devices, it is completely dependent on the public mobile operator’s network. If the network goes down or the signal coverage is patchy or non-existent in places, there is little the enterprise can do.
It is this signal coverage issue that may put some enterprises off adopting PoC, particularly if they have experienced problems with either work or personal mobile phones in the past. There is little doubt that the PoC market will continue to expand, as for many enterprises its convenience and relatively low opex cost is very attractive.
Private broadband
Another alternative for enterprises has emerged more recently in the shape of private 4G LTE and 5G networks. Both Nokia and Ericsson offer pre-packaged, plug-and-play, scalable offerings to enterprises. Ericsson sums up the package as comprising a 5G core (dual-mode, cloud-native, microservices-based), combining Evolved Packet Core (EPC) and the new 5G Core (5GC). Plus, network management, orchestration (BSS, OSS, edge computing, and so on); 5G transport (fronthaul, backhaul, routers); and 5G RAN (indoor/outdoor base
stations, antennas).
Nokia describes its 4G/5G solutions as being similar to installing a Wi-Fi network. The core enables mobility, ensures security and maintains quality-of-service parameters.
Discussing this, it says: “Depending on the size of your site, it can even run on a small desktop-sized edge server deployed in a server room.” 4G or 5G small cells are the equivalent to Wi-Fi access points, while the backhaul can use “cabled Ethernet, passive optical LAN and/or microwave depending on the application and the distances served”.
The key challenge for an enterprise is getting hold of spectrum. Some countries have allocated spectrum for use by industry. Where that is not available, enterprises have to work with those that have the spectrum, which mostly
means MNOs.
Commenting in an ABI Research press release on the company’s Shared Spectrum & Private Cellular Networks Tracker market data report (June 2023), Leo Gergs, senior analyst for 5G markets at ABI, warned that for cellular connectivity to flourish in the enterprise domain, businesses need easy access to licensed mobile network spectrum.
“Otherwise, they are forced to go through traditional network operators who struggle to adjust their value proposition to enterprise requirements. Moreover, enterprises do not trust them – particularly in industrial environments – to deal with OT [operational technology] data,” he concluded.
This is borne out by a Global mobile Suppliers Association (GSA) report from May 2023. This referenced 1,148 networks in Q1 2023, of which 853 used LTE and 505 used 5G.
The GSA noted that: “There is a strong, positive correlation between the number of private mobile networks being deployed and the countries with dedicated spectrum [for private 4G/5G networks].”
The USA, Germany, China, UK and Japan are the top five countries deploying private mobile networks worldwide. The industry verticals leading the way are manufacturing, education, mining and oil and gas, according to the GSA.
ABI Research’s Private Cellular Network Forecasts market data report (February 2023) noted that 4G LTE is driving growth for the time being. Discussing 5G, meanwhile, it said “the persistently immature ecosystem around industrial grade 5G devices prevents 5G from unfolding its whole value proposition for enterprise connectivity, decreasing the attractiveness of 5G for enterprise cellular networks”.
ABI largely sees private cellular networks taking over from or complementing Wi-Fi. In short, as far as enterprises are concerned, they are primarily being deployed for data, not voice. However, the report points out that deployments are currently primarily driven by outdoor use-cases rather than ultra-reliable low-latency communications (URLLC) indoor
use-cases.
Gergs suggested that private cellular networks work well in outdoor sites such as ports, airports and oil or gas fields and are far superior to Wi-Fi in these environments. “Suppliers of private networks should therefore look beyond the obvious manufacturing environment as targets and start looking towards sites with large outdoor areas if they haven’t done so already.”
The ABI report also pointed out that up to 2030, almost 50 per cent of private cellular network revenues will be accounted for by integration services. Gergs commented: “This underlines that a private cellular network for enterprises is a highly customised deployment that requires a high degree of expertise in integration and orchestration capabilities. Consequentially, system integrator capabilities will remain pivotally important for the success of private cellular deployments.” Enterprises need to take note.
For many enterprises looking for business-critical communication solutions, a private 4G/5G network would be overkill. Private cellular networks are more suited to large concerns such as ports, airports, mines and university campuses with data-heavy requirements, where they can be used to complement or replace Wi-Fi.
Manufacturers requiring URLLC or time-sensitive networking for robotic control have to await the arrival of industrial-grade 5G chipsets.
For most enterprises, their everyday private communications will continue to rely on Wi-Fi, LMR and, increasingly, PoC. Enterprises need to work out which network model is best for their business.
That will depend on their size, the nature of their operations, and whether they mostly need voice or data services. Or, as is increasingly the case, both.
As an outlier to this, it is also worth mentioning low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite providers such as Starlink and OneWeb. They can deliver broadband services either as a backup or for places that are hard – or simply uneconomic – to reach with terrestrial networks.
