LTE is the gold standard of connectivity, but many enterprises do not consider it an option when planning private networks to connect equipment to the internet. That’s a mistake, according to Qualcomm Technologies VP of business development Neville Meijers.
Meijers said enterprises should consider private LTE networks if they want more flexibility than the public LTE network offers, and need better service and security than they can get from Wi-Fi or low-power wide area technologies.
“The great thing about these networks is they allow the owner to actually have specific types of services that wouldn’t otherwise be allowed or supported,” Meijers said. These networks give enterprises a way to securely connect devices that require variable rates of data transmission, ranging from large machines that might transmit gigabits per second all the way down to sensors that transmit just a few bits per second. In addition, a private LTE network is a local network, so all company data can stay on site.
A private LTE network is just what it sounds like: an LTE network designed specifically for one private customer and deployed on premise. “It’s bespoke for the owner of those premises – it could be an enterprise, it could be a port, it could be an airport or logistics hub,” Meijers said. He added that recent research has highlighted oil and gas operations, as well as warehouses and factories as other appropriate use cases for private LTE networks.
Private LTE networks can be deployed using licensed or unlicensed spectrum. Qualcomm has developed chipsets that enable LTE in two different unlicensed bands: the 5 GHz band and the 3.5 GHz band. LTE in the global 5 GHz band is called MulteFire and LTE in the 3.5 GHz band in USA is part of CBRS, which stands for Citizens’ Broadband Radio Service.
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Because private LTE networks can be deployed in unlicensed spectrum, enterprises do not necessarily need to work with a wireless carrier to build or activate an on-premise LTE network. Some of the same integrators that build local area networks for companies today may be building LTE networks tomorrow.
Private LTE networks can be operated in the cloud, but all data can be locally stored and processed using gateways. If the customer wants the entire network to be local, the core network can also be built on-premise.
Meijers said private LTE networks will add value “everywhere where you need this quality of service with respect to different types of classes of devices that are in the network.” He foresees more and more business cases in which local LTE will make a difference.
“You need reliability, low latency, you need the data to be local, you need really good coverage,” he said. “You need a lot of devices to be supported on the network and you need security … all of that comes with these LTE-based technologies.”