ONUG Fall Private 5G Event Retrospective

by Stephen Collins

November 6, 2023

Private 5G Conference and Exhibitors

On October 24th, we held a successful Private 5G Event at ONUG Fall 2023 in New York City. I want to personally thank each of the speakers and moderators who participated in the eight lively and informative conference sessions that day. Feedback from attendees and speakers was uniformly positive, and everyone present was able to engage in the type of dialog and interaction that can only happen at an in-person event.

Cradlepoint/Ericsson, Oceus and, the 5G Open Innovation Lab exhibited private 5G solutions at ONUG Fall. Cradlepoint/Ericsson put up a live private 5G demo network on site, which operated in CBRS spectrum. The 5G OI Lab displayed its highly compact P5G-in-a-box solution, which is deployed in a pilot project at the Port of Tacoma in Washington. Oceus, which has extensive experience deploying private cellular networks in mission-critical environments, exhibited its Oceus Intelligent Controller platform.

For those who were not able to attend in person or online, included below are links to descriptions and video recordings for each Private 5G Event conference session.

Key Takeaways

The conference sessions touched on a wide range of interesting topics, but here are my thoughts on key takeaways from the event.

5G connectivity is poised to play a key role in enterprise networking, in both public networks and private networks. Think of 5G as underpinning the mobile enterprise cloud.

Enterprise 5G will be a key driver for the adoption of edge computing as a new generation of connected devices are deployed to support applications that require high-performance data processing at the network edge.

There is no shortage of compelling use cases for private 5G networks across OT, IoT and IT environments, in many industry verticals. The primary gating factor is the availability of devices incorporating 5G connectivity.

There are private cellular use cases where 4G/LTE connectivity is currently sufficient, and in fact preferable, due to the widespread availability of 4G/LTE-connected devices.

The decision to deploy private 5G hinges on making a compelling case for positive business outcomes, given a target set of use cases. Key technical factors for evaluating the overall ROI include mobile coverage, connection speed, latency, reliability and security.

Private 5G networks are inherently more complex than existing WiFi networks, therefore, enterprises require integrated, end-to-end network management solutions that shield operations teams from this complexity.

Private 5G networks are not one-size-fits-all, and enterprise adopters can choose from a range of deployment models. The specific model chosen will ultimately be dictated by a thorough evaluation of use case requirements and the ecosystem partners that an enterprise chooses to work with.

While enterprise IT/OT decision makers should understand the fundamentals of 5G networking, it is just as important to understand the overall value chain and the key players in the private 5G ecosystem. A sound partnering strategy that meets the specific needs of their organization will lead to better business outcomes.