Private wireless, particularly private 5G, is becoming a hot, new growth opportunity in telecommunications for a variety of reasons. Some of these are long-term while others are short-term. Let’s take a closer look at this sector, who the leaders are today and what we can expect in 2025 and beyond.Â
As a long-term Industry Analyst, columnist and influencer I have learned over time that leadership often changes.
A few examples. Remember Motorola once led the wireless handset space for decades. Next, Palm and Blackberry led for the next decade. Today, iPhone and Android lead. The next obvious question is, who is next?
I am always searching for the next, big hurrah in the wireless industry. Wireless has been hot for quite a few decades. However, it has changed, time and time again.
While it is still hot, the industry has been struggling with 5G in comparison to previous generations and growing in others.
In fact, that is the reason companies like AT&T and Verizon took a wrong turn acquiring WarnerMedia, DirecTV, CNN, Warner Brothers Studio, AOL and Yahoo years ago.
How to determine next generation of leadership in wireless
To get an accurate vision of the changing industry, we must pull-the-camera-back to get a longer-term, historical perspective on the changing telecommunications industry in general, wireless and then private wireless sector in particular.
Next, it is important to make the right call. To move forward in the right direction.
Private wireless seems to be one of the right calls. It is still new. Still relatively small and there are different segments of this sector, but it is growing.
Telecom, in its various stages has been a growth industry since the beginning when Alexander Graham Bell first created the telephone over more than a century ago.
Telecommunications has grown and changed, both in technology, industry structure and the products and services used.
Telecom begins next growth cycle
Today, telecom is going through yet another amazing transformative period.
We have seen the industry restructure and reinvent itself several times in recent decades. Today, there are fewer and larger competitors in all the different segments.
That being said, the industry is shifting once again. Over the past few decades, we have seen the Internet change everything, both wireline and wireless.
Looking backwards, until around the year 2000, local, long distance and cable TV were growth industry segments. Then things suddenly changed as the internet and wireless started to transform everything.
New competitors and new services have been transforming everything.
That’s why today, older and more traditional telecom services like telephone and cable TV are fading away.
They are being replaced by new technology like streaming, Internet, wireless, wireless broadband and much more.
Private Wireless, fueled by 5G, is new growth sector in telecom industry
Today, we are seeing new technologies in each segment begin their amazing growth story.
One of these new growth sectors is private wireless. This is one of the new and transformative sectors. However, while private 5G is a new sector, it is still small and early in its growth cycle.
The way large and small private wireless competitors see it developing is also quite different. Which way is correct, is one of the important questions we wrestle with.
There are two distinct groups in the private wireless space. Existing telecom leadership and smaller and newer competitors. To one, private wireless is just one of their many segments. To the other, it’s everything.
That is why these two groups treat this new sector very differently.
Private wireless one of the new and hot growth sectors
Industry leadership from telephone companies and even cable television companies see private wireless as one of many segments they compete in.
These companies offer traditional telephone and cable TV. Two sectors which are shrinking and have been over the past 20 years.
I am told they see private wireless as a way to provide growth to their sector which continues to decline as a stop gap until robust growth resumes once again.
The other group of competitors are smaller and newer. These are companies with big ideas and new technologies. There are countless small competitors in this space.
Large and small competitors in private wireless act differently
Small competitors look at things differently. These are companies which need help punching their way onto the radar. They need help being noticed.
Bottom line, larger companies have the well-known brand name and deep pockets to invest.
Smaller competitors live and breath new technology, however they do not have strong, well-known brand names and in many cases, do not have the financial where-with-all to make it through this start up period alone.
I believe since private wireless is a new and young industry sector, we will see it go through several years of growing pains. We saw this with every new sector when they began. We will no doubt see it in this sector as well.
AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Xfinity, Spectrum, Altice, Cox in private wireless
Let’s take a closer look at a few of the top competitors in the space today.
On the carrier side, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon are worth keeping an eye on. Also, cable TV companies like Comcast Xfinity, Charter Spectrum, Altice, Cox and others as well. They need to find new areas for growth as well.
On the smaller company side of the fence there are quite a few competitors. Most will either be acquired or be the acquirer. Some will even fail.
That is the great unknown. Only a few will grow into sector leaders. And leadership can change moving forward.
Boldyn Networks, Juniper Networks, HPE, Celona in private wireless
There are so many new or young competitors in the private wireless space.
Juniper Networks is one of the players. I attended their analyst and influencer event last year. While they are an innovative company, they are smaller and ran into a financial issue. In the past they were the acquirer. Now they are the acquired. They announced a merger with HPE. This merger makes sense in a case like this for both companies.
Boldyn Networks is a shared networks infrastructure provider. This is a bold company in this space. They are international and have been acquiring other smaller providers.
Celona is yet another provider which looks like it has the legs. Again, we will see how this company competes in the fast growing and always changing industry.
You see, there are so many players in this space. Who the leaders will be long-term is the question we all want an answer to.
Knowing who the leaders are today is one thing. Knowing who the leaders will be for the long-term is another topic.
The competitors will have to prove themselves in both the short-term and long-term, over and over again. This is the race we are watching and plenty of companies want to be in the winner’s circle.
Problem with private wireless and leadership is being unknown
One problem is identity. Today, it seems many companies do not say they are in private wireless.
Some may see creating a new category to lead as a good marketing play. While that may be what some larger competitors in the industry do, private wireless is not that.
Today, neither private wireless as a sector, nor the top competitors are well-known. Not yet anyway.
The industry needs to move forward in two directions at once.
· One, they all need to promote the private wireless space in general to help it become a well-known sector.
· Two, each needs to promote themselves as a leader in this space.
Private wireless needs to move forward in two directions at once
If companies are not in the private wireless space, that’s one thing. However, if they are, and if they want to simply stand-out from all the noise and chaos, they are not making industry growth or their growth any easier.
In fact, each calling themselves something different so they can lead that space, when the marketplace doesn’t think that way and frankly does not understand, will not help.
This is a fine line that all competitors must wrestle with and balance.
There is still so much to learn and to teach about marketing and public relations to each of these young players and the entire industry.
Every competitor needs to be seen and heard in this new space. And most need help since marketing is not their specialty.
