The private-wireless networking opportunity shouldn’t stay too private
Everyone is excited about the market for private wireless networking. And that’s no surprise: It affords all the companies that cut their teeth building big, public 4G and 5G networks the chance to leverage that work into the enterprise space – where margins might be much more attractive.
Moreover, it could ultimately grow into a significant opportunity. Nokia, an early mover in the space that now counts almost 500 private wireless deployments around the world, in 2019 forecast that the private wireless opportunity could eventually double the size of the commercial wireless industry in terms of total global cell sites.
To be clear, Nokia is by no means alone in chasing the private wireless opportunity. The sector is a veritable battle royale as infrastructure providers like Ericsson and Airspan compete directly with cloud computing giants like Microsoft and Amazon, wireless network operators like AT&T and Dish Network and startups ranging from Betacom to Celona to Artemis.
As a result, the telecom industry’s focus on this sector is hardening and narrowing: Private wireless networking has become arguably the top talking point among attendees at recent trade shows like Light Reading’s own Big 5G Event, held this week in Austin.
But the sector remains in its infancy, and it will need to show some real traction in order to gain steam. Also, there’s a very, very good chance that traditional, incumbent telecom companies – the Verizons and Ericssons of the world – will not be able to cash in on the obvious advantages they have.
Coming out of the shadows
In a signal of a maturing sector, vendors are finally beginning to trot out actual, real-world private wireless deployments with enterprise companies. For example, AT&T has touted a 5G network to fill in coverage gaps near Phillips 66’s oil refineries in Belle Chasse; Dish is using its spectrum in a network for Duke University; and Artemis is touting its pCell technology via a deployment at the SAP Center sports stadium in San Jose.
This is an important development because it helps bring clarity and heft to a concept that, until just recently, felt more like a PowerPoint presentation than a real market opportunity.
But hard questions remain. Are such deployments intended only for demonstration purposes, or are they actually solving an enterprise customer’s problem? Do they involve a few transmitters covering a relatively small geographic area, or does the network actually cover the business’ full operations? Is it a one-off deployment designed for a single application, or is it being rolled out as a platform that’s also intended for tomorrow’s services? Most importantly, can the user or the vendor provide any financial details in a public setting?
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