Private Wireless Networks - Learnings to Date

Judging by both public and private conversations at the recent Mobile World Congress (MWC) event in Las Vegas, there’s a lot going on in the Private Wireless Networks (PWN) space and with a meaningful and growing number of networks live in the US already, it’s a good time to look at what learnings we can take from the early market activity.

Just for context, Limitless Mobile has designed, deployed and is currently managing multiple PWNs, both in the US as well as abroad, but in addition, our team members have been previously involved in design, deployment and management of PWNs for almost 20 years – reflecting the fact that while Citizens Band Radio Service (CBRS) based networks are still relatively new in the US, the concept itself is not new and private networks have been deployed outside the US for a couple of decades.

So let’s focus on what we’ve learned to date – focusing on the US.

1)???PWNs are still a nascent market – it's still early days for PWNs in the US, which translates to an accelerating learning cycle not just for companies looking to deploy them, but also for the consulting companies, System Integrators (SI), Network Equipment Providers (NEP) and specialist companies providing solutions and services to design, deploy and manage them.

?The key takeaway from this is to recognise that depth of expertise and experience varies dramatically from company to company and those looking for a solution or service provider need to do their due diligence is selecting the right partners.

2)???PWNs are all about control, but there are multiple ways to achieve it – for most companies, the ultimate reason for a PWN is control – over the network, over the connectivity, over the security, and so on.

There’s nothing wrong with this – as wireless activities become more and more critical to a company’s technology strategy, a desire for more control makes sense. However, the key thing to recognise here is that there are multiple ways to achieve control:

For example, having ability to control subscriptions from a wireless core network means increased control, but doesn’t mean that the wireless core network needs to be on-premise – the control could also be achieved with a cloud-based core.

Similarly, control doesn’t mean that the wireless core network needs to be dedicated but it could also be shared, which has significant cost impact.

Following on the same logic, a wireless core network doesn’t need to be managed by in-house team, but could be sourced as-a-service.

Finally, although some may argue that this is adjusting the definition of a PWN – a PWN doesn’t necessarily need its own Radio Access Network (RAN), but could also utilise wholesale access to e.g. a nationwide wireless carriers’ RAN.

So control shouldn’t automatically translate to a need to own and operate everything in-house – it will be the right solution for some companies and completely wrong for others.

Instead, the key is to consider carefully what level of control and independence is desired vs. need to optimise the costs, including recognising that the right approach for one company is unlikely to automatically also apply to another.

3)???There’s no one-size-fits-all technical solution – the previous point already highlighted that, there’s no standard off-the-shelf technical solution that’s optimal for every company’s PWN needs.

This is not just about whether to choose vendor A or B for the RAN or whether the core network should be dedicated or shared, on-premise vs. in the cloud, self-managed vs. sourced as-a-service etc. – what’s right for one company is by no means a guarantee that it fits the needs of another.

The key takeaway here is that each PWN needs to be evaluated as a stand-alone case to determine what the optimal technical solution for it is.

4)???Define requirements first, choose technology second – as an industry we have a habit of “falling in love” with everything new, which we need to keep in mind.

One example of this the drive for 5G. As a technology, 5G will no doubt become critical to everyone at some point, but as it stands, the 5G Stand Alone ecosystem is not fully mature yet (e.g. roaming) and therefore, 5G cannot fulfil all the requirements a PWN may have today and hence, impact choices of technology.

Hence, any company planning a PWN should focus on identifying their needs and once these are clear, identify the right to address the needs rather than choose technology first and try to fit needs with that.

This decision will become easier as the 5G ecosystem evolves…until we start getting excited about the next big technology evolution!

5)???Partnering could be the “silver bullet” – there’s clearly no single item that guarantees success in designing, deploying and managing a PWN.

However, a decision to partner with one or more specialist companies to leverage their expertise and experience and/or existing assets and capabilities is clearly something that makes sense for the large majority of companies.

As outlined previously, the right strategy clearly varies from company to company, based on their existing in-house assets and capabilities as well as expertise and experience along with their ambitions.

However, designing, deploying and managing wireless networks requires a lot of specialist skills and given there are companies that have done this for decades, its hard argue against the idea of leveraging their specialist expertise and experience to reduce risks

Similarly, leveraging existing assets and capabilities, such as numbering resources, wireless-core-network-as-a-service, specialist wireless Network Operations Center (NOC) as-a-service, roaming-as-a-service etc. can have a significant impact in reducing CAPEX, OPEX and time-to-market for a new PWN.

Many companies are already following this rationale, not just to benefit from specialist companies in the design and deployment of a PWN, but also to leverage existing teams, solutions, processes as well as expertise and experience in management of their PWN.

This represents an opportunity to achieve not only short- to medium-term benefits in reducing risks, costs and time-to-market, but also an opportunity to create a platform for learning and therefore give the company launching the PWN a chance to evaluate whether they want to in-source specific operational functions over time and to prepare their organisation for this - similar to a Build, Operate, Transfer (BOT) approach common in many industries.

6)???Maintain strategic flexibility – finally, while partnering can be the key to reducing risks, optimising costs and reducing time-to-market in the short- to medium-term, we’re still in a nascent market and therefore, by definition, a lot of accelerated learning is taking place as the market matures, which in turn may change the way some companies view their strategic decisions.

In light of this, the last key takeaway is to maintain strategic flexibility i.e. ability for the company who “owns” the PWN to be able to adjust their decisions e.g. regarding whether to operate something in-house or outsource it to a partner.

The key point here is not whether a company actually ends up changing any of their decisions as they move on the learning cycle and see things in practise – the key is having the flexibility if needed, so the company can evolve its strategy as their PWN proposition matures!

Limitless Mobile

Limitless Mobile is an FCC-regulated US wireless carrier focused on using its wireless carrier status, assets and capabilities as well as specialist wireless expertise and experience to enable technically advanced wireless propositions for enterprise and wholesale customers, both nationwide in the US as well as internationally.

?Limitless Mobile serves a wide range of companies from start-ups to Fortune 500 entities, serving commercial and government markets, who seek access to e.g. US wireless carrier numbering assets, wireless core network as-a-service, roaming-as-a-service or specialist wireless NOC-as-a-service propositions or simply looking for a partner to provide strategic, technical or operational consultancy to maximise the potential of existing and new wireless opportunities.

?Limitless Mobile has designed, deployed and is currently managing multiple Private Wireless Networks both in the US as well as abroad and continues to create innovative solutions for challenging holding back the development of the US wireless wholesale market.

?If your company is planning to deploy a Private Wireless Network, we would love to hear from you at [email protected] to organise a call and share how we could help ensure a successful design, deployment and management of your Private Wireless Network!