Growth of Private 5G

Growth of Private 5G

Tony:

Hello, today is Friday, April 4th, 2025.  I’m Tony Mangino from TC2 and this is Staying Connected.  Today, we are going to discuss the growth of Private 5G and how it is re-shaping the Enterprise WAN.   Today I’m joined by TC2’s Technology Director, David Lee and Steve Rosen, a Senior Partner at LB3.

Thanks for joining me today, Dave and Steve.  While we have covered other aspects of Broadband services in recent past podcasts, such as best practices to procure wireline Broadband, we now have an update on the growth of Private 5G and Fixed Wireless Access or FWA.

To start, David, why don’t you provide our listeners with some background on what Enterprise clients need to know about the technology behind Private 5G, CBRS and FWA services.

Dave:

Good afternoon, Tony. 

Let me start with a brief overview.    In a nutshell, Private 5G is like having WiFi Access Points in your facility or campus but instead of the unlicensed spectrum used in WiFi, Private 5G uses FCC licensed spectrum almost identical to the spectrum we use with our mobile phones. The key difference is that the 5G equipment or radios are installed in the facility or campus…hence the term “Private 5G”.  Important to note, Enterprises generally do not become wireless common carriers such as Verizon or T-Mobile because the 5G radios and equipment are dedicated to Enterprise’s use.

However, because the 5G spectrum is licensed, the enterprise must obtain a valid license for the frequencies, power and locations it intends to use in its facilities or campuses.  The enterprise can self-provision this licensing and spectrum management activity or use a managed service where a provider (for example, a System Integrator or AWS) manages all the licensing, installation and certifications.

5G and Citizens Broadband Radio Service (or CBRS), which is a U.S. radio service, and FWA in general, continue to gain momentum in and outside the U.S.     

Tony:

Thanks Dave.  Can you discuss what’s been happening in the Private 5G, CBRS and 5G marketplace?

Dave:

The network telcos and ISPs are using equipment based on the standards of 5G technology and radio spectrum when it was introduced over 6 years ago.  As we know, the standards and frequency band allocations for 4G, 5G and future deployments of 5G Advanced and 6G are governed by the International Telecommunications Union or ITU.  In addition, 5G has not been as successful in finding a ‘killer app’ or use case that justifies the immense expense of deploying it ubiquitously….until now.  FWA deployments and uptakes across the U.S. has been booming supported by its great economics and the prospect of BEAD (BEAD is the acronym for Broadband, Equity, Access and Deployment) providing U.S. Gov’t funding to each State, 5G is and will continue be a success story.

Moreover, current deployments of 5G in the U.S. and many parts of the world still haven’t achieved all the capabilities in the 5G standard because wireless providers have not deployed 5G Standalone or SA….which means they are using their legacy 4G cores and not a native 5G Radio Access Network.  What this means is that while the speeds are greater than 4G LTE due to access to greater spectrum, the full capabilities and features of 5G still have not been realized yet.

Tony:

Can you provide some examples of the feature set and functionality of 5G Stand Alone that might be particularly compelling to our enterprise customers?

Dave:

Sure Tony.  Some of the 5G feature set and functionality has been available for years but has not been deployed ubiquitously.  Examples of 5G Stand-Alone or SA capabilities include network slicing, ultra low latency, better support for real time traffic, bandwidth that is more reliable, better security, scaling, a high-level of automation, and support for massive machine-to-machine communications. The latter example of M2M supports IoT, 5G Reduced Capability including RedCap and eRedCap devices, where the 5G radio units are much less complex, deliver lower data rates and is much less expensive compared to the 5G we observe today which is a ‘one-size fits all’ highest bandwidth and longest range competition among the wireless carriers.  The lower data rates offered by 5G RedCap and eRedCap is better suited for use cases where a lower cost and battery-friendly IoT or similar device needs to be supported, including factory and warehouse automation systems.

Tony:

Steve, can you update us on what CBRS has to do with Private 5G?

Steve:

CBRS, a flavor of 5G, was authorized for full commercial service in early 2020, and is one of the first services to be licensed in the sweet spot of the mid-band spectrum of 3.5 GHz.  This 3.5 GHz spectrum strikes a nice balance of propagation (for example, inside buildings as well as outside) and data capacity, and has proven very useful for both voice and data applications. 

CBRS has already been used for wireless common carrier services and private wireless services. Use Cases on the carrier and Internet Service Provider side include mobile broadband, fixed wireless access for carrier backhaul as well as local access.  For the Enterprise, there are private deployments for short-haul radio access, IoT, in-building connectivity (such as in warehouses and factories), high-speed, secure networks for a hospital or college campuses and communications across large transportation hubs.  Industries typically include transportation, mining, manufacturing, healthcare and education.

Tony:

Steve, what is the latest CBRS news and how will that benefit Enterprise customers?

Steve:

Good question Tony.   To bring you up to speed on the existing CBRS regulatory framework, there are certain areas of the US where fixed satellite systems and other federal users (including Naval and other radar systems) operate in the same frequency bands as  CBRS, referred to as Dynamic Protection Areas, or DPAs. Because these incumbents have priority over CBRS systems, under the legacy CBRS rules if, for example, the Navy needed to use these radars, the SAS Administrators in these DPAs would essentially shut down CBRS activity while the Navy radars were active. Last summer, however, the FCC changed its aggregate interference model to add more realistic assumptions about propagation loss for CBRS systems as the radio waves were interfered with by other electromagnetic and mechanical interference such as houses, trees, and terrain. At the end of the day, this modification to the service rules substantially shrunk the DPAs and will result in service to approximately 72 million more people nationwide—including millions of people in major metro areas like Atlanta, Phoenix, Las Vegas, San Antonio, and Pittsburgh—without periodic service adjustments to protect federal operations. Enterprise customers in these formerly heavily protected areas will definitely benefit from this rule change.

Tony:

Dave, any closing thoughts?

Dave:

Steve’s description of Private 5G and CBRS provides a good overview and update. BEAD funding designates only “licensed wireless networks – including cellular and CBRS – or a combination of licensed and unlicensed wireless networks as providing “reliable broadband”.  These licenses are primarily held by incumbent telcos. Enterprises may require the “reliability” of licensed spectrum, but, with the recently amended NTIA rules for CBRS, Enterprises will now have the option of fully unlicensed FWA networks that may be faster to market and/or less expensive. Be patient. Wireless Internet and FWA benefits are coming.

Tony:

OK, great stuff.  Thank you Steve and David.

It appears Private 5G and Fixed Wireless Access is continuing to be relevant by filling gaps and supporting new use cases.  If you’d like to learn more about these services or you have other ICT needs, you can contact Dave, Steve, or me, or any of our LB3 and TC2 colleagues by giving us a call or shooting us an email.  You can also stay up to date by subscribing to Staying Connected, by checking out our websites, and by following us on LinkedIn.