Why are 5G private networks favored by countries with developed manufacturing industries?

Currently, private networks are increasingly used in the Internet of Things (IoT) and industrial fields. Large companies generally prefer to use private networks rather than public networks due to their various advantages, such as low latency, ultra-high speed, enhanced security, network reliability, and the ability to effectively customize and upgrade networks. For most large companies around the world, deploying 5G private networks has become the first choice, especially for companies in industrial environments.

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5G private networks are popular in the manufacturing industry

Unlike public networks, 5G private networks can be configured according to specific needs, and 5G private networks have obvious privacy and security advantages. Data is pre-processed within the local network and only the encrypted results are sent to the cloud network. The reliability of 5G private networks reaches 99.9999%, and the latency is lower than that of public networks. These characteristics are exactly what the smart manufacturing industry pursues.

Before the commercial use of 5G private networks, LTE was more stable, more secure, and more able to meet enterprise requirements than Wi-Fi, making it the preferred technology for achieving connectivity in harsh industrial environments. Globally, LTE is more popular in countries with developed manufacturing industries. For example, China's Yangshan Port uses LTE to operate automated guided vehicles. 5G private networks are similar to PBXs (telephone service networks used within companies) in the landline era. The network is independent internally and can provide customized services for the company. It can work with telecommunications companies on a managed service basis, or it can be run entirely by the company itself.

Data shows that 5G private networks are quite popular in China, the United States, Japan and Germany, because the manufacturing industries of these four countries account for a high share of the international market. According to a report by the US media on February 18, 2020, according to data released by the United Nations Statistics Division, the total manufacturing output value of China, the United States, Japan and Germany accounts for 58% of the world, while China accounts for 28% of the global manufacturing output value. Therefore, China is also known as the world's manufacturing superpower. However, compared with the United States, Japan and Germany, China still has many shortcomings in high-end manufacturing.

5G private network has broad prospects in the United States

LTE and 5G private networks in the United States use three types of spectrum, namely licensed spectrum, unlicensed spectrum and shared spectrum. These spectrums cover the 5 GHz unlicensed spectrum and 3.5 GHz spectrum in the Citizen Broadband Radio Service spectrum. The mmWave bands can provide very high connectivity with very short latency. These bands are very beneficial for public safety and industrial infrastructure connections that require high reliability. For this reason, the FCC has released several millimeter wave bands, including 24.25~24.45GHz, 24.75~25.25GHz, 38.6~40 GHz and 47.2~48.2GHz.

According to US media reports, the US LTE and 5G private network market is expected to reach US$5.68 billion by 2027, with a compound annual growth rate of 17.0% from 2020 to 2027. It is understood that more and more automotive, industrial manufacturing and logistics companies in the United States have established local LTE and 5G private networks. Telecom operators such as AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have also jointly invested in 5G private networks with large companies in the medical, logistics and machine manufacturing fields in order to gain a competitive advantage.

WeWork is a global leader in flexible space solutions and one of the first companies to sign a contract with Verizon to provide indoor 5G services to Corning. Verizon has been working with WeWork for a long time to vigorously promote 5G private networks. According to the agreement, Verizon plans to install 5G indoor base stations and deploy 5G private networks in 10 WeWork locations. Verizon's 5G private network solution is perfectly combined with WeWork's space rental solution, providing a good choice for small and medium-sized enterprise users. On January 20, 2021, Verizon and Corning jointly launched 5G private network services. With the deployment of the first indoor 5G base station, the process from proof of concept to scalable commercial solutions has begun. Dedicated 5G base stations expand the coverage of Verizon's 5G ultra-wideband network, which is a key step in providing dedicated 5G networks for enterprise customers. In fact, as early as September 2020, Verizon and Corning conducted a 5G private network demonstration experiment and achieved success. Now Verizon has specially deployed a 5G private network demonstration platform in Corning's retail stores in order to provide the fastest 5G ultra-wideband experience to enterprises and their employees. Corning's indoor 5G millimeter wave service solution provided by Verizon provides a reference for hospitals, manufacturing, warehouses, schools, ports, commercial offices, retail stores, etc. to manage and optimize enterprise data applications. The deployment of these indoor base stations will accelerate the popularization of dedicated networks with edge computing (MEC) functions.

The 5G private network launched by Verizon consists of three parts: indoor 5G ultra-wideband, private MEC, and private core network. It fully integrates the baseband unit, wireless facilities, and antennas into one package. Through integration, network performance and efficiency can be improved. This indoor 5G solution also uses Corning's innovative composite materials and optical fibers to enhance 5G performance.

Japan's "industry, academia, and government" work together to promote the development of 5G private networks

In Japan's 5G network market, telecom operators have exclusive use of the frequency bands licensed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications and provide services nationwide. However, in the 5G private network market, companies and local governments share frequency bands, and the service area is limited to their own jurisdiction. In December 2019, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan issued the "Guidelines for the Introduction of 5G Private Networks" and institutionalized it. As the scope of Japan's 5G commercial services gradually expands, companies, local governments, etc. have officially launched plans to use "5G private networks". Since then, Japanese companies have focused on 5G private networks.

In October 2019, NTT East signed a cooperation agreement with the University of Tokyo and the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to promote the development of 5G private networks through an "industry-university-government" cooperation model. In 2020, the "DX Promotion Center" was opened in the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Technology Center as a demonstration base for 5G private networks. At the same time, a project called "Local5G-In A Box" came into being. "Local 5G-In A Box" is a product for wireless communication engineers with standard-based algorithms and reference designs that can be used to model, simulate and verify 5G communication systems. Configuring a 5G private network standalone (SA) base station on an ordinary PC enables 5G communication by connecting wireless devices to the PC. This makes it easy to reduce costs and customize the user's usage method.

It is worth noting that although large operators mainly provide download services, in 5G private networks, upload services are required in many cases, and NTT docomo has launched upload experiments for this purpose. In addition, docomo is also trying to connect the operator's public 5G and 5G private networks. In order to solve the problems of labor shortage and excessive burden on workers, docomo is working on using 5G for aquaculture and general fisheries. For example, at an oyster farm in Eshima City, Hiroshima Prefecture, the growth of oysters is remotely monitored through a camera on the top of an underwater drone to solve the problem of the heavy burden of manually checking the reproductive status of oysters.

In addition to telecom operators, manufacturing companies are also paying attention to 5G private networks. For example, on January 13, 2021, Panasonic obtained a 5G private network SA experimental license using the Sub6 frequency band (4.6GHz~4.9GHz) from the Communications Bureau of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan, and started a 5G private network demonstration experiment, which included "5G private network performance verification and application demonstration" and "deepening understanding of radio wave propagation". For the former, the coverage of the 5G private network will be evaluated, high-speed and large-capacity performance will be verified, and applications such as high-definition video transmission and remote monitoring using wireless video (such as 4K and 8K) will be demonstrated. Communication delays and connection control when remote control is performed using new equipment such as robots will also be verified. Regarding the latter, the company installed three base stations in a core area of ​​the southern area of ​​the Sedo Business Field to verify radio wave interference in the form of actual on-site operation to deepen the understanding of radio wave propagation in order to provide users with better 5G private network SA facilities.

For example, Fujitsu Limited obtained Japan's first commercial private 5G license on March 27, 2020 and began operating a 5G private network. Fujitsu uses its private 5G technology to transmit high-definition image data collected by multi-point cameras to enhance security monitoring measures within buildings and create an AI-driven security system that can quickly detect suspicious behavior through dynamic analysis. Fujitsu also provides private 5G to customers and partners through its newly established private 5G co-creation space "FUJITSU Collaboration Lab". Fujitsu's Oyama Factory (a manufacturing base for network equipment) has obtained a private 5G license to create a smart factory. The framework of Fujitsu's 5G private network system is shown in Figure 1. The system configures a 5G NSA network for data transmission, LTE for connection control between base stations and land mobile stations, and uses 28.2 GHz to 28.3 GHz for 5G frequencies and 2575 MHz to 2595 MHz for LTE frequencies.

Figure 1 Fujitsu's 5G private network system framework

It is reported that through cooperation with telecom operators, system builders and service providers, it has become an industry consensus to build and operate virtualized networks using 5G SA. On February 9, 2021, KDDI, Hitachi, NEC and OKI announced that they will conduct experiments on automatic recovery using AI technology for 5G network failures, with the goal of implementing this technology in actual environments after 2023. These companies hope to use the "AI Network Integration Platform" to achieve stable use of applications on 5G networks by responding to network failures and dynamically controlling network configuration when 5G networks fail.

For example, when a connected car’s 5G network fails, AI will immediately detect it and automatically reconstruct the network by deploying and optimizing the communication control units of the connected cars in multi-access edge computing (MEC).

Germany is very active in promoting 5G private networks

The German telecommunications regulators Bundesnetzagentur (Germany's regulator for frequency allocation) and BNetzA (German Network Authority) announced that in the year since the opening of 3.7GHz to 3.8 GHz spectrum for 5G private networks (called "campus or local networks" in Germany), 93 applications have been received, 88 5G private network licenses have been issued so far, and more are expected in the future. Regulators expect that the 5G private network spectrum will be mainly used in the industrial sector, but also in agriculture and forestry. Many companies have said they have purchased 5G private network spectrum, including automakers BMW and Volkswagen, industrial group Robert Bosch, chemical company BASF and Lufthansa. Currently, Vodafone Germany has cooperated with Lufthansa to build a 5G network in an aircraft hangar at Hamburg Airport.