Your network, your rules – welcome to private 5G networking

Unprecedented speeds, low latency, enhanced capacity; the benefits of a private 5G network are well documented. But what does this really mean for you and your business?

As we enter the Industry 4.0 era, 5G networks will enable many industries to take advantage of new, connected technologies – including the IoT and AI – to improve operational flexibility, productivity, and visibility.

In manufacturing – the birthplace of Industry 4.0 – 5G is already proving critical to the delivery of transformative new use cases, such as predictive maintenance, factory floor automation, and augmented reality for remote troubleshooting.

To underpin these capabilities, businesses are also deploying their own private 5G network for reliable coverage and increased control and security. But what exactly is a private 5G network? What challenges can it help you overcome? And what are the advantages of 5G over 4G?

 

Introducing the private mobile network

A private 5G network is much the same as a Local Area Network (LAN), but instead of using Ethernet or Wi-Fi to connect your servers and devices, it uses 5G.

This standalone 5G system enables you to manage your 5G network independently without the need for a public service provider, as the network is delivered by your own dedicated micro towers and small cells. Other key benefits include:

• Wireless connectivity
  Eliminate the need for bulky wires and routers and start scaling your network connections with ease.
• Secure control
  With complete network control, you can scale security policies, determine where data is stored, prioritise mission-critical connections, and more.
• Network slicing
  5G enables you to create, customise, and optimise multiple virtual networks for specific users, devices, and use cases.

And then there’s the inherent 5G connectivity benefits which greatly exceed existing private 4G networks and private LTE network capabilities:

• 1-20Gbit/s download speeds (versus 10-50 Mbps on 4G)
• 1ms latency (versus 50ms on 4G)
• 30-300GHz capacities (versus <6GHz on 4G)

To put this into perspective, you could download a 1080p HD movie in two minutes using 5G, or enable self-driving cars to react faster to oncoming dangers than it takes the brain to process an image seen by the human eye.

"5G network adoption could boost annual UK business revenues by up to £15.7 billion by 2025."
Barclays 2019

How can a 5G private network help me?

There’s more to deploying a private 5G network than just replacing Wi-Fi in your office for improved capacity and speed – although, that’s a great use case too.

In fact, KPMG expects that 5G use cases can help the UK unlock £3.5 trillion in revenue over the next six years. This suggests that the business case for 5G is universal and, as many of the Industry 4.0 use cases suggest, it’s a critical enabler of digital innovation.

For example, manufacturers can deploy 5G private networks in their factories to achieve real-time visibility of connected machinery and operations. And by applying data-driven intelligence at the edge of the network, they can proactively identify and respond to any efficiency or mechanical issues before they cause costly downtime.

Beyond manufacturing, private 5G networks can help businesses to:

• Modernise customer-facing processes by eliminating manual, paper-based processes, and connecting staff with digital technologies
• Accelerate data-driven collaboration and enable automation across wide areas – e.g. oil rigs, drilling sites, and farms
• Enable SMEs to take advantage of Industry 4.0 technologies and productivity gains as 5G installation and chipsets become standardised and costs fall
• Create more attractive connectivity options for public users in customer-facing areas of the business
• Transmit uninterrupted mission-critical data in real-time across large areas to help drive productivity and efficiency

"1.1 billion 5G connections will exist in 2023, a 217.2% CAGR since 2018."
IDC 2019

Your network. Your specs. Your rules.

At Vilicom, we have many years of experience in enterprise-managed networks and helping organisations unlock their mobile potential to modernise operations, drive innovation, and reduce costs. And with the emergence of 5G and our private network expertise, you can act now to prepare your business for a connected, data-driven future.

What’s more, we take an independent and bespoke approach to private networking to ensure that only best-fit vendor equipment is used to meet your individual needs for a secure, robust, and reliable private network experience.

To discuss your bespoke private 5G network solution, and the opportunities we can help you unlock, get in touch.