New Technologies Bring Private LTE Networks into View

In October, Harbor Research of Boulder, Colorado, published “The Private LTE Opportunity for Industrial and Commercial IoT” to explain how a new generation of wireless technology — private LTE networks — is unleashing an age of pervasive connectivity and awareness that is fostering entirely new and more efficient modes of customer interaction and service connectivity, as the report put it.

In the report, the term wireless connectivity implies universal connectivity. However, Harbor Research says universal connectivity is yet to be seen in business-critical domains such as manufacturing, supply chain, transportation systems and energy. Interesting revelation.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The report says that the current state of industrial and business critical environments point to an inflection point in networking technology evolution.
• The report draws the conclusion that the private LTE model introduces a potential remedy to the current fragmentation of the industrial wireless market.
• The report cites another instance of ecosystem innovation in which Huawei has effectively deployed private LTE solutions across shipping ports, mine sites and oil exploration platforms achieving better coverage, capacity and availability that improves the overall security, efficiency and sustainability of operations.

“According to Harbor Research, private LTE networking technology — LTE-based wireless technology for local and independent networks — enables users and customers to integrate diverse sensors, machines, people, vehicles and more across a wide range of applications and usage scenarios. The report says private LTE networking technology treats user concerns — from reliability and service quality, to security and compliance — as challenges that can be addressed by a single, scalable wireless networking solution that makes use of LTE’s technology and ecosystem benefits.”

“In taking this perspective, private LTE networks are jumping ahead of the current market confusion about wireless connectivity and are re-defining how value is created from devices and data,” the report reads. “Key solutions for this new breed of private LTE network are LTE-based solutions using the U.S.-specific Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) 3.5-GHz band, MulteFire LTE technology for global unlicensed spectrum such as the 5-GHz band, or dedicated licensed spectrum.”