The concept of non-public networks is nothing new — yet the rise of the internet of things (IoT) and connected assets is driving more and more companies to investigate the opportunities that non-public 5G networks could offer them.

Non-public 5G networks promise better privacy, data security, compliance, and cellular network performance; they also offer safer and more private features for dedicated user groups. In essence:

  • Non-public 5G networks turn businesses into mobile operators in limited geographic areas. A business that operates a non-public 5G network will become a 5G network infrastructure operator — if the organization wants to have complete control over its operating processes.
  • Non-public 5G networks offer protection against industrial espionage. Data in non-public 5G networks is segregated and processed separately from public 5G networks. This ensures complete privacy protection of process- and production-related data.
  • Now is the time to explore non-public networks on private LTE infrastructure. Businesses will increasingly deploy non-public 5G networks as part of IoT deployments. Businesses should build on the lessons they learned with private 4G LTE networks.

In the long term, non-public 5G networks might take the same route the cloud debate took. When cloud computing first appeared, many businesses insisted on private cloud environments in their own data centers. In time, these businesses became comfortable enough with the concept to have vendors such as AWS, Azure, or Alibaba run their cloud environments.

A similar evolution might occur with non-public 5G networks. Businesses may wonder whether they really need to run their own 5G network infrastructure and warm to the idea of working with equipment vendors, specialty providers, or telcos to operate these 5G environments.

Our new report, “Non-Public 5G Networks Will Be A Critical Building Block Of Your Enterprise,” investigates the key benefits of non-public 5G networks. It helps CIOs to prepare an appropriate strategy for and deployment of non-public 5G networks.

For additional information of the dynamics of 5G, please register for a series of Forrester webinars on the issues defining the emergence of 5G.