Private Networks
Put the power in your own hands with a private cellular network. Accelerate your digital transformation and build a secure foundation for the journey ahead with reliable, secure and agile connectivity that offers a new level of control and possibility.
What is a private network?
In telecom, a private network is a dedicated network that utilizes cellular connectivity (either 4G LTE or 5G standalone) within a defined geographic area to support business and mission-critical requirements of the network owner - whether that's a business, industry, government or other body.
Private cellular networks are often deployed when reliable, secure, mobile connectivity are key for operations or service delivery, but security or coverage factors rule out the use of Wi-Fi or public cellular networks.
Wi-Fi vs. Private 5G vs. Public 5G
Wi-Fi
- Convenient short-range, high-speed internet over unlicensed spectrum.
- Fairly easy to deploy, relatively low cost and simple to manage, as IT staff are familiar with it.
- In certain environments, coverage can be unreliable for business-critical operations — particularly where mobility is required or in device-heavy, and outdoor environments.
- Challenges with mobility where clients “stick” to a specific radio, leading to unreliable connectivity for portable use cases.
- Less secure for data and protecting access to business operations as it lacks the SIM authentication and security configurations and policies of cellular networks.
Private 5G networks
- Like a scaled-down, private-use version of a public cellular network, but with distinct advantages for certain use cases.
- Leverage licensed spectrum or sometimes shared spectrum.
- Deliver the greatest speed with dependable lower latency.
- Superior coverage in diverse environments, both indoors and outdoors.
- Offer the most security, data privacy and control over what devices or users can access the network, its data and components.
Public 5G networks
- High-performance connectivity, even when mobility and heavy data requirements come into play.
- With licensed spectrum and more powerful radios, cellular coverage spans much larger areas, especially outdoors.
- Reliability or availability can be an issue in certain locations or during times of high traffic congestion.
- Deterministic, meaning the network core makes the traffic decisions, allowing greater control than Wi-Fi.
- Recognized as a more secure wireless technology, though sometimes not secure enough for sensitive business data or privacy needs.
These connectivity options each play unique but complementary roles in today’s digital landscape, with the best solution often being a hybrid – a combination of solutions to address different needs in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
Learn more by exploring these blogs:
What is a Private Cellular Network? | Private 5G vs Wi-Fi: the new wave of Wide-Area LAN | Private 5G Security vs WLAN and Wi-Fi
What are the benefits of private networks?
Improved performance
Dedicated resources for greater reliability, lower latency, higher bandwidth and minimized signal delay between devices - crucial for robotics, autonomous vehicles or mission-critical operations.
Greater mobility
Seamless wireless coverage over a range of environments, inside and out, gives your connected devices the power to roam, smoothly navigating a busy shipping port or your factory floor.
Superior coverage
Enables seamless coverage in various environments, including indoors, outdoors and on-the-move as devices move within the network, facilitating connectivity for machines and workers alike.
Scalability
Private networks can be expanded as business needs grow, allowing companies to adapt easily without compromising performance. This includes transitioning from 4G to 5G as needs evolve.
Customization
Can be tailored to meet the specific needs of a business, industry, utility or government, optimizing for factors like coverage, capacity and performance depending on the use case.
Enhanced security
Private networks offer a meticulous level of control over data and permitted devices on the network, restricting access to authorized users only and reducing the risk of security breaches.
Private 5G use cases and applications
Two broader areas in which private networks are primarily used today are for enterprises or industries and for mission-critical services. Yet even within each industry, every situation is different. Their needs vary so much, it's impossible to have a one-size-fits-all solution. In fact, private networks vary in size from the smallest business office or factory to spanning across a whole nation. Despite this, there are four main use case categories in which private networks are currently seeing the greatest uptake and value.
Connecting workers
With private 5G connectivity, workers can be augmented with technologies, allowing them to perform meaningful tasks more effectively. Smart hardware like hand-held devices gives workers uninterrupted access to critical information in real-time, enabling them to make quick decisions and manage tasks and operations precisely. Immersive technologies such as smart glasses can also offer seamless communication and coordination, or visual guidance to enhance the accuracy of tasks or improve safety and productivity.
Automating operations
Enabled by private networks, a diverse range of connected devices can move smoothly and safely around a site without interruptions from handovers, dead zones or network delays. Leveraging 5G, collaborative robots (cobots), automated mobile robots (AMRs) and automated guided vehicles (AGVs) can efficiently move materials with speed and reliability inside or outside of a production facility. By optimizing routes and adapting to obstacles, they ensure agile, responsive and accurate material movement.
Operations visibility
Continuous monitoring of assets and equipment can help anticipate failures before they occur using data analytics and machine learning, resulting in less unscheduled downtime. With private networks, smart factories can tap into the vast data streams created within their own operations, using sensors, computer vision systems and digital twins to enable predictive maintenance and enhance asset tracking, safety and physical security, environmental monitoring and quality assurance.
Mission-critical communications
Mission-critical communications is an important category for private networks, with use cases including vital services such as public safety, government and defense, railways, power grids and water utilities. Private networks are built to ensure continuity of service and access to high-quality communication in these cases, even when things go wrong. With 5G, new use cases are also enabled, such as augmented and virtual reality (AR and VR), AGVs, cloud robotics and real-time remote control of machines.
Enabling innovative technologies and opportunities
Industries evolving with private networks
Private network solutions, with their reliability, coverage and security, are ideal for meeting the demands of complex and industrial operating environments such as in manufacturing, mining, energy utilities, offshore & processing industries, ports, airports, trains, logistics, smart cities and healthcare, to name just a few. You can explore some of these in more depth below.
Featured customer stories
Plan for a smooth deployment: From design to optimization
Private networks can seem quite complex – especially if you are new to cellular networking, however network management tools have risen to the occasion to simplify these complexities. Coverage and performance can be customized based on your own use cases and requirements. When getting started, it's vital to have a good strategy in place to ensure smooth deployment and integration.
There are four key steps involved in a smooth private network deployment: starting from planning and design, to setup, integration, optimizing, and scaling. Learn more about each stage in the drop-down list, or in our whitepaper on industrial private networks.
For enterprises who may find deploying a private network a daunting prospect – don’t worry, you don’t have to do it alone. With Enterprise 5G Private Networks, you'll find simplified solutions that are packaged according to your requirements and infrastructure, plus all the support and training needed to get you up and running in no time – and keep you there.
What are the key components of a private 5G network?
Before you begin planning your own deployment, it can be very helpful to understand what the core components of a private network are, and what they do.
Radio Access Network - A radio access network (or RAN) includes various components which work together to transmit and receive signals back and forth between the connected devices within the network. These include access points, antennas and small cells – radio access points that can be deployed indoors or outdoors and allow routers or compatible devices to connect to the private network.
Cellular Core: Also referred to as Evolved Packet Core, this is the “brains'' of the network. The core manages and routes data traffic between devices and external networks, such as the internet or other private networks. It includes various components like switches, routers, and servers that ensure efficient data processing and transfer. It can be located on-premise or in the cloud.
Devices: These can be security cameras, machines, sensors, tablets, mobile phones or even trucks or robots – any devices which are connected to the network to provide or utilize data. These can either connect directly to a cellular radio if they have the capability (like phones or tablets with a SIM card) or indirectly via a router.
Expert insights and strategic guidance
Expect more with Ericsson
Performance
- Deterministic performance with high-availability
- Best in class radio portfolio with 4G → 5G software upgrades and feature add-ons
Security
- End-to-end security built in from the core to the edge and down to the device level
- Data is more secure and inaccessible to outside parties
Simplicity
- Single pane of glass management edge to core
- Full stack and fully unified solution with simple yet sophisticated functionality
Enterprise optimized
- Modular design for OT and IT organizations of all sizes
- Optimizations for easy consumption, configuration, deployment, and scale
Customer support
- Business and technical enablement
- Expert channel partner network and ecosystem development
Private network solutions for every need
Welcome to a world of possibility with Ericsson’s private network solutions, a portfolio designed to accelerate industrial digitalization with powerful 4G LTE and 5G standalone (SA) connectivity. Whether you're operating machinery deep in a mine, or drones high overhead at an offshore oil rig, we offer secure, next-gen networks to keep you connected and firmly in control.
Our Enterprise 5G Private Network Solutions help optimize business-critical operations with smart automation, data-driven insights, elevated productivity and improved sustainability. Built on Ericsson’s industry leading 4G/5G technology, they support a wide range of use cases for seamless integration with business systems. For those in the United States, we also offer tailored enterprise solutions leveraging unique technologies such as Ericsson Enterprise 5G Coverage, a neutral host network which extends carrier network coverage into your facilities and surrounding areas, or Ericsson Private 5G Compact, an end-to-end solution which utilizes shared industry spectrum via the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) to offer simplified, cost-effective and scalable plug-and-play deployment.
