How mature is 5G private network?

Data shows that as of the end of September, the total number of 5G base stations in my country reached 2.22 million, making it the first country in the world to build a 5G network based on an independent networking model; 5G applications cover many areas of life such as transportation, medical care, education, culture and tourism, with a total of more than 20,000 cases, and 5G commercial use has entered a virtuous circle; 5G terminal users exceed 500 million...

The large-scale implementation of 5G to B applications cannot be achieved without the support of an important solution - 5G private network. What is 5G private network? In fact, "private network" is not a special term in the 5G era. As early as the 2G/3G/4G era, "private networks" existed, such as the railway private network built based on GSM-R technology, as well as public security private networks and military private networks. These "private networks" support the operation of important systems.

However, with the development of technologies such as big data, cloud computing, and the Internet of Things, vertical industries have increasingly higher requirements for network transmission speed, latency, and security. The 5G public network can no longer meet the needs of enterprises for high speed, high reliability, and high stability. Therefore, the deployment of 5G private networks has become an indispensable means for vertical industries to promote 5G innovative applications, expand production efficiency, and accelerate digital transformation.

At the same time, the main service objects of private networks in the 5G era have changed from government departments or a few large enterprises to numerous industry enterprises. As a result, the network construction ideas and business models of private networks have also undergone fundamental changes: according to the 3GPP R16 standard definition, the deployment modes of 5G private networks are divided into independent deployment mode (SNPN, Stand-alone Non-Public Network) and public network integration mode (PNI-NPN, Public Network Integrated Non-Public Network).

Independent deployment mode refers to the use of dedicated spectrum to build a completely dedicated network, which is not shared with anyone. This method generally requires the allocation of dedicated frequency bands to enterprises, and the enterprises independently carry out network construction and operation and maintenance. The public network integration mode can be divided into two categories according to the degree of sharing with the public network: "partial sharing with the public network (sharing RAN or sharing RAN and core network control plane)" and "end-to-end sharing with the public network".

Global 5G private network achieves initial commercial deployment

Thanks to the joint efforts of all parties in the industry, 5G private networks have been initially deployed for commercial purposes at home and abroad.

Overseas, 5G private networks first began to explore applications in countries with more developed manufacturing industries, such as the United States, Germany, and Japan. Since 2019, these countries have gradually opened up 5G private network bands in Sub-6 and millimeter wave bands for various industries to apply for licenses, promoting 5G application practices in industries such as manufacturing, transportation and logistics, scientific research, and mining and oil and gas. For example, the German government opened up 100M bandwidth in 2019 (providing 100M of vertical industry-specific spectrum resources in the 3.7GHz band) and opened up 10-year use rights applications to corporate users, mainly for Industry 4.0, agriculture, and forestry. Among them, more than 30 companies including Bosch, BMW, Volkswagen, BASF, and Lufthansa have applied for 5G private network bands. Japan also opened up dedicated spectrum for enterprises in 2019 (including two bands, 4.5GHz and 28GHz, with a total bandwidth of 1.1G), and called it "Local 5G". Fujitsu, NEC, Akita Cable, and the University of Tokyo and many other units have submitted applications. This year, the Brazilian National Telecommunications Agency (Anatel) passed three bills, approving the use conditions and operating requirements for dedicated network radio frequency bands. Brazil's integrated steel producer Gerdau reached an agreement with communications service provider Embratel to build LTE and 5G private networks.

In addition, industry standard organizations (such as IEC) and industrial organizations (such as 5G-ACIA, 5GAA, etc.) combine the specifications developed by communication standard organizations (such as 3GPP, ITU, GSMA, IEEE, etc.) with specific industrial applications, and actively develop new technical standards and application specifications for 5G and industry.

In China, the Chinese government attaches great importance to the development of 5G private networks and has given full support in terms of policies. In March 2020, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the "Notice on Promoting the Accelerated Development of 5G", proposing to organize research and pilot projects on 5G industry virtual private networks; in July 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, together with nine departments including the Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission, issued the "5G Application "Sailing" Action Plan (2021-2023)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Action Plan"), which set clear goals for the construction of 5G private networks. Subsequently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology held a national on-site meeting on the large-scale development of 5G industry applications, emphasizing that the "Action Plan" should be used as a starting point to build, develop and apply 5G well, and to fully promote innovation in 5G industry applications. At the same time, the "Blooming Cup" 5G Application Collection Competition, led by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, has been held for many consecutive sessions, digging deep into typical 5G applications and exploring mature business models to create a new situation for the innovative development of 5G applications in my country.

At the same time, the three major domestic telecom operators and communication equipment manufacturers have launched distinctive 5G private network services and product solutions, continuously promoting the maturity of equipment and the implementation of applications, and are committed to opening up the "new blue ocean" of 5G-enabled industry digital transformation: the three major telecom operators all released 5G private network solutions in 2020 to meet the differentiated business needs of industry users.

China Telecom proposed three types of 5G customized network service models, namely "Zhiyuan", "Bilin" and "Ruyi", to achieve network following cloud and cloud-network integration. China Telecom subdivided the scenario-based needs of users, formed a solution knowledge base of "five libraries and one map", and innovatively launched the "5G customized network capability cube". Focusing on business requirements, technical parameters, atomic capabilities, standard products, business solutions and business models, the needs of industry users are quickly transformed into configuration parameters of 5G cloud network infrastructure, achieving accurate scenario adaptation, multi-dimensional capability construction, and fast solution delivery, further realizing replication from "1" to "N", and promoting 5G scale replication and commercial closed loop. So far, China Telecom has built more than 3,800 5G customized network projects and more than 13,000 5G DICT projects. In 15 industries in the Action Plan, such as industry, transportation and logistics, medical care, and education, it has cooperated with hundreds of large enterprises, focusing on 20 major 5G industry application scenarios such as 5G+industrial vision, 5G+production site monitoring, 5G+remote equipment control, and 5G+factory intelligent logistics, and created a number of industry benchmarks.

China Mobile divides the 5G industry private network mode into three levels: "Premium", "Exclusive" and "Exclusive", with network capabilities gradually superimposed, network specialization gradually improved, and network value gradually enhanced. In response to the differentiated needs of industry users, China Mobile has created a 5G private network operation platform (OneCyber) to provide "self-service, self-operation and maintenance, and self-development" network services for industry users. Subsequently, China Mobile released "5G Private Network 2.0", continued to deepen the new core of "Premium, Exclusive and Exclusive", and promoted the upgrade of the three major products of "Premium+", "Exclusive+" and "Exclusive+", combining 5G chip modules, MEC edge computing power, 5G private network operation platform and other capabilities to create a 5G+ digital intelligence base to empower industry users. The flexible combination (Flexible) of the "BAF multi-dimensional" basic functions (Basic) + value-added functions (Advanced) of the 5G private network provides users with multi-dimensional, multi-dimensional, and multi-mode billing solutions, and supports charging according to multiple dimensions such as traffic, bandwidth, base stations, speed, and service levels, allowing users to "order dishes"; at the same time, it refines four high-frequency combination packages of Premium Unlimited Connection, Exclusive Interconnection, Exclusive Park, and Exclusive Boutique to effectively match application scenarios and help the front-line to quickly promote. China Mobile has joined hands with industry leaders to deeply cultivate 19 sub-industries and explore innovative 5G applications. Currently, more than 15,000 commercial cases have been implemented. In 2022, China Mobile's 5G commercial cases will grow by more than 100% year-on-year, exceeding the total number of development in the previous two years. The new scale of most sub-industries in half a year far exceeds the whole year of 2021. The development of 5G vertical industries has entered a stage of rapid scale replication.

China Unicom proposed three 5G industry private network deployment methods: "virtual private network, hybrid private network, and independent private network", focusing on combining edge computing to achieve network-edge collaboration. In December 2021, China Unicom released the "5G Industry Private Network Product System 2.0 and 5G Private Network PLUS" during the Partner Conference. It has the characteristics of network customization, cloud-edge collaboration, terminal intelligence, intensive operation, security systematization and service integration, which promotes 5G to penetrate into the core production links of enterprises. With the 5G fully connected factory as the core focus, China Unicom vigorously promotes the in-depth expansion of new technologies, new scenarios, and new models of "5G+Industrial Internet" to all fields and links of industrial production, helping industrial production to be smarter, more efficient and safer. Based on the three-dimensional network architecture of 5GC "one cloud concentrated, one network distributed", China Unicom has built a stronger network, realized innovation and access to the network, and promoted it on a large scale throughout the whole network; for industry-specific application scenarios, it has carried out baseline network solutions and template network configuration, enhanced the industry-customized network slicing capabilities, multi-level computing power scheduling capabilities and network-end collaboration capabilities, and supported the large-scale delivery of 5G private networks; in terms of services, adhering to the intensive operation concept of "one-point access, serving the whole country", comprehensively upgraded the 5G application mall and 5G private network operation platform, and realized one-point ordering, one-click activation and one-stop service for private network products. At present, China Unicom has built more than 500 5G "lighthouse" projects, more than 2,000 5G industry virtual private network projects, and more than 10,000 5G scale application industry projects, covering 25 sub-industries such as steel, mining, electricity, education, culture and tourism, and medical care, accelerating the transformation of 5G applications from "model rooms" to "commercial housing".

Driven by the joint efforts of the three major operators, the construction of 5G private networks has made significant progress. At present, 5G is playing an enabling role in multiple industries such as industry, medical care, education, and transportation, forming multiple typical application scenarios with commercial value, covering 40 of the 97 major categories of the national economy, and 5G application cases have accumulated more than 20,000. 5G has been widely used in more than 200 smart mines, more than 1,000 smart factories, more than 180 smart power grids, 89 ports, and more than 600 tertiary hospital projects across the country. The number of 5G industry virtual private networks has increased from 1,655 in July 2021 to 6,518, an increase of nearly 3 times.

In addition, mainstream domestic communication equipment manufacturers have successively launched a full range of 5G product solutions, providing customized products such as lightweight core networks and cloud-network collaboration for scenarios such as operator physical dedicated networks, hybrid private networks, and shared networks: 5G private network equipment has basically matured and has been fully applied, the R15 version has been maturely commercialized, and the R16 version has initially acquired commercial capabilities.

"New players" rush into the game, "stirring up the water"

It is worth noting that the 5G private network market is not just dominated by traditional telecom operators. New players and new models have emerged in the 5G private network market: cloud computing companies, emerging telecom service providers, industry giants, etc. are very enthusiastic and rely on their own advantages in cloud, network, applications, etc. to expand the 5G private network market.

Cloud computing companies represented by Microsoft, Google, and AWS rely on their public cloud advantages and industry user resources to acquire and cooperate with communication network suppliers and telecom operators to launch cloud-centric 5G industry applications and services. For example, AWS launched AWS Private 5G, a solution for enterprise 5G private networks, at the end of 2021. This is a new managed service from AWS that aims to enable enterprises to build their own 5G private networks very easily. AWS claims that AWS Private 5G allows enterprises to purchase, deploy and expand 5G private networks in just a few days. In June 2022, Google officially launched a cellular wireless private network solution for enterprises. This solution is based on its "Google Distributed Cloud Edge" product released in 2021, and uses Google's ISV ecosystem to combine private network capabilities with a complete edge computing application stack to meet the unique performance, service level and economic needs of key vertical industries.

Emerging telecommunications service providers, represented by communication network suppliers and traditional private network service providers, provide cloud and industry application solutions based on the Internet, and seek to directly provide 5G private network services to industry users.

Traditional industrial giants represented by Siemens rely on their monopoly advantages in industry applications to integrate 5G private networks into their overall industry solutions.

In addition, mainstream communication equipment manufacturers are actively deploying in the private network field and promoting the implementation of products and solutions. For example, Nokia has strategically focused on the enterprise private network market in recent years and launched two 5G private network solutions, Nokia DAC (Digital Automation Cloud) and MPW (Modular Private Wireless). In 2019, Nokia announced that it had signed wireless private network agreements with more than 120 companies, covering multiple industries such as transportation, energy, public sectors, logistics and manufacturing.

In this regard, Wen Ku, Chairman of the China Communications Standards Association, suggested that industry users, telecom operators, and cloud computing companies should carry out more cooperation based on industry-specific networks, explore new models, create new products, accelerate the integration research of 5G with artificial intelligence, cloud computing, big data, the Internet of Things and other technologies, promote the maturity of end-to-end network slicing, edge computing and other technologies, and build industry-specific networks with wide coverage, leading technology and excellent quality. Build a digital infrastructure system that meets the requirements of China's digital economy development, provide users with flexible, diverse, integrated, convenient, safe, reliable, and comprehensive intelligent 5G services, and help the industry's digital transformation.

Maximizing spectrum efficiency is key

The development of 5G private networks has achieved remarkable results, but to fully realize the goal of serving thousands of industries, a process of mutual promotion and spiral evolution is still needed. The needs of thousands of industries for 5G are different, but for the future development of 5G in the industry, many problems need to be overcome. Some experts pointed out that the current 5G industry projects are facing many pain points, such as the difficulty of DOICT integration, the wide range of fields covered, the long industrial chain, many business breakpoints, and the difficulty of scale replication. "As far as 5G private network projects are concerned, there are difficulties in measuring, guaranteeing and balancing end-to-end SLA indicators; the implementation of network determinism is difficult, and commercial use faces great challenges; at the same time, key industry users such as energy and ports have made the deployment of customized 5G core networks on the user side a must due to their extremely high requirements for network security isolation and function customization, which also brings great challenges to equipment operation and maintenance; in addition, the flexible and rapid development of 5G private network services also poses challenges to private network security." Industry experts said, "In terms of terminal modules, the industry faces the problem of high terminal module costs and the fact that only leading companies are currently using them, which does not meet the conditions for large-scale deployment. At the same time, there is a certain lag in the response of new terminal capabilities and new technologies. In this regard, experts suggest strengthening the guidance of the terminal industry, promoting the large-scale commercial use of 5G modules, improving the customization capabilities of industry modules, and reducing module costs and the entry threshold for industry applications."

Many experts believe that the biggest problem for private networks to move towards 5G is spectrum allocation. Some experts believe that providing spectrum directly to enterprises or specific vertical fields is crucial to promoting the development of the LTE and 5G private network markets. More and more countries are exploring how to allocate spectrum for private network applications; different countries have different strategies for spectrum liberalization (including LTE and 5G). For example, the US CBRS spectrum initiative finds a balance between enterprise and telecommunications needs - CBRS is a shared spectrum plan that allows enterprises to use some spectrum almost for free, while allowing telecommunications operators or cable operators to purchase additional spectrum for their traditional businesses; German regulators have allocated spectrum specifically for the enterprise market, which has promoted the development of the enterprise and supplier's own industrial ecosystem, and is also conducive to attracting international companies to enter the German market.

However, China has a tolerant and cautious attitude towards 5G private network and dedicated frequency. 5G spectrum may be difficult to allocate to a single industry, and regulators should avoid reserving spectrum for vertical markets in key frequency bands, which will hinder the full release of 5G maximum utilization efficiency and waste spectrum resources. As a scarce resource, the policy focus of radio spectrum should be to maximize and optimize the efficiency of spectrum utilization. Private network spectrum is something that requires comprehensive and careful consideration by the government, and maximizing the efficiency of spectrum resource utilization is the most critical. "A cautious attitude should be taken towards 5G industry-specific frequency bands. The construction of vertical industry private networks requires a complete set of professional and guaranteed technical and operation and maintenance support. Telecom operators' private networks have advantages such as rich spectrum and mature end-to-end operation and maintenance experience. They can provide high-quality network construction and operation and maintenance services for vertical industries, empower vertical industries, and meet the needs of life and production. At the same time, the exclusive use of frequency bands for various industries will bring about problems such as planning difficulties, large interference, low utilization of spectrum resources, and industrial dispersion. Therefore, it is recommended that industry users give priority to the use of operators' 5G industry-specific networks, and it is also recommended that the government encourage operators' private networks as the first choice in the fields of people's livelihood and public affairs." The expert emphasized.

"5G private network services are not a single-domain issue of mobile communications, but an end-to-end system engineering project, which involves the integration of terminals, platforms, applications, etc. of different vertical industries with 5G networks. It requires the vertical industries and the telecommunications industry to actively explore integration and deepen the understanding of both parties on demand and technology. Therefore, the formulation of 5G private network standards from demand to solutions requires the in-depth participation of professionals from various vertical industries." The expert said, and suggested that "the industry should, on the basis of sorting out and summarizing the existing industry private network standards, promote cross-industry cooperation with industry standardization organizations such as industry, energy, transportation, medical care, and education, carry out the development of industry private network standards including 5G cloud private networks, provide support for all parties in the industrial chain to jointly promote core technology research and industrialization, carry out technical research on security assurance in each link of cloud, pipe, edge, and end, build a security standard system for industry 5G private networks, and provide safe and reliable 5G industry private networks."