Convergencia Research, Consultoría especializada en Latinoamérica y Caribe
Wednesday, October 13, 2021

The Wifi 6 vs. 5G battle is also being waged in the field of private enterprise networks

There are three ways for the operator to exploit private networks: connectivity; PaaS (Platform as a Service), thanks to the capabilities acquired for a native Cloud environment; and business vertical solutions. In any case, while waiting for the advance of 5G in Latin America, several providers admit that it is currently more viable to face a private network over Wifi 6.

In the last three years, commercial interest in private 5G networks has increased worldwide, as a result of regulatory efforts to increase spectrum dedicated to industries and verticals, as well as specific needs for monitoring, automation and other services over broadband in business environments. The United States is one of the most advanced markets in this regard, with its dynamic sharing system in Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS, 150 MHz in C band over 3.5 GHz), and the United Kingdom, Germany and Japan also granted "slices" of spectrum for actors outside the ICT sector. In Latin America, Chile submitted the possibility for consultation in 2019: there, the 28 GHz band was one of the most recommended; the Mining Council considered "critical" access to frequencies, and mobile operators outright rejected the initiative.

While these issues are settled in the regulatory dimension, reality is one step ahead. The truth is that private networks are taking shape in the region on LTE, hand in hand with operators; or increasingly, on unlicensed spectrum. In this last field, Wifi 6 is emerging as a fertile ground, before 5G, and even at a lower cost. Therefore, the eventual resolution of the dilemma over the 6 GHz band at the World Radiocommunication Conference in 2023 will also determine which models will lead in the implementation of these networks.

Juan Carlos Zerón, Senior Director for the Telco Vertical in the Red Hat region pointed out three scenarios, with new association models of the operator and ecosystem actors that until now were not their competitors. In a talk with Convergencialatina, he cited a first case in which the operator remains at the forefront of the implementation, provides the infrastructure, uses its spectrum, provides a "slice", and builds and operates the network. A second possibility is that a Cloud provider runs the business applications in the control plane of its own cloud, and leaves other functions in the "campus" of the business client: under this scheme, the vertical is the owner of spectrum and the cloud provider delivers the service. In a third scenario, the entire technology environment, meaning, the Core, the radio, are packaged and ready for the business customer to do everything, becoming the owner of the spectrum, infrastructure, installation and operation. "In the latter case, the vertical is independent. It acquires capabilities of a technology that previously did not apply to it. It can be seen in cases of large campuses, mining, and oil companies. Interested in having capabilities of an network operator that today are far," said Zerón.

Depending on the association model, Red Hat differentiates three routes of exploitation of private networks for the operator: the first, obvious and typical, connectivity; the second, platform services such as PaaS (Platform as a Service), thanks to the capabilities acquired for a native Cloud environment; and lastly, business vertical solutions, complemented by an ecosystem of vertical-specific partners.

From Nokia, Huawei and Ericsson, private network approaches are defended by the operator. Wilson Cardoso, Nokia's Latin America CTO, anticipated that these deployments will be key to the developing 5G and should not be seen as direct competition with traditional service provider's business. The implementations in the region so far led by the Finnish company are entirely together with operators, with the sole exception of a pilot with the Brazilian government. Cardoso highlighted the high level of integration that these networks require: connectivity, AI tools, predictive management, maintenance and a combination of data centers are the basic requirements for their installation.

Facundo Fernández Begni, from Ericsson, said that they are still in advanced discussions with operators in Argentina and Latin America for use cases in mining, agriculture and logistics. There is also interest in deployments for smart ports and airports. He commented to Convergencialatina the need for these networks to operate on licensed spectrum, standardized according to 3GPP, in line with the position of traditional vendors to ensure spectrum for mobiles in the 6 GHz band.

In the meantime, specialized companies like Airspan opt for end-to-end deployments, without operator involvement. Javier Salomon, director of the firm for Latin America, detailed that there are more than 300 implementations in the region. "In certain countries, verticals present applications with the regulator to use the LTE 40 band (2,600 MHz), for which they pay a usage fee. In Argentina we have two clients - oil companies - but they opted for our line of products in unlicensed bands (5.8 GHz and Wifi), because the LTE offer is too expensive for the local market," he explained.

In the "step by step" of a private network implementation by Airspan, the vertical informs you about coverage conditions of the area where it operates, and a signal propagation analysis is performed. This determines the number of antennas to install. Then the client is consulted about the available infrastructure, the presence of poles or fiber (if it does not exist, point-to-point connectivity is offered between the antennas to be installed). Airspan quotes a Core or operation center with which the network is managed, its configuration and that of each user, and a certain amount of necessary CPEs, or SIM cards, are assigned.

From Cisco officials admit that it is currently more viable to face a private network over Wifi 6. For two years, all the Access Points marketed in the region -both the Meraki line and Cisco Legacy- are compatible with the new standard. The resource is at hand and its implementation is even easier, according to Daniel Gonsé, director of Architectures at Cisco for Latin America.

Nevertheless, globally the firm is in the testing phase of an architecture for private 5G networks under the acronym "P5GaaS" (Prime 5G as a Service): it includes a Cloud Core in the cloud, identity and policy management as well as the management or orchestration over the entire network. This "canned" product for 5G, according to Gonsé, will only be applied to Stand Alone deployments, because it requires the ability to partition the network (network slicing).

Plethora of players. A disparity of actors came to dispute the game of private business networks. And the roles have not yet been defined. Among the players that are observed, are:

• Private network operators (PNOs).

• Traditional mobile operators.

• Hyper-scale cloud providers (Amazon, Google, Microsoft).

• Neutral hosts.

• “Augmented” tower companies (they not only operate passive sites like towers, but also provide host-neutral services on active networks, indoor networks, fiber, and the cloud).

• Companies specialized in verticals.

• Systems Integrators, specialized or generalists.

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