Deutsche Telekom and Ericsson’s partnership will embrace both public and private networks (DTEGY, ERIC)

Deutsche Telekom and Swedish networking provider Ericsson have partnered to enable a combination of private and public mobile networks for businesses, called campus networks, to enhance enterprise connectivity. The companies’ campus networks are primarily designed for use in manufacturing, including factory floors, logistics centers, as well as airports and harbors.

Here’s what it means: Campus network solutions can offer enterprises greater versatility and control over communications within their facilities.

A campus network can allow companies to use their private network to support mission-critical applications, while relying on a public network for less crucial communications.

The private portion of the enterprise’s network provides security and high-speed performance. Because the private network is isolated from the public network and data traffic is kept locally, customers can benefit from low latency and a high degree of security. This security and performance can be reserved for critical operations such as connectivity for connected machines on the factory floor. For example, a company could reserve their private network for machines on the assembly line, which work at fast speeds and need quick communications to be highly coordinated.
The public network enables wider voice and data connectivity for employees or visitors across an industrial campus. Employees can use the public network for less critical functions, such as administrative tasks or personal communications, thus reducing the strain on the private network. The public network can also be used to connect visitors, external service providers, and suppliers without compromising the security of the private network.

The bigger picture: As they look to expand their enterprise connectivity dealings, telecoms should consider offering a hybrid network model, similar to campus networks, as an option for large organizations.

Private networks have already generated interest from major industrial companies, and the flexibility of campus networks could result in even higher interest. For instance, Ericsson and Telefónica Germany are collaborating with Mercedes-Benz to build a private 5G network for a new production facility in southern Germany.

And Nokia has developed private LTE networks and partnered with companies to enable specific equipment to function on its private networks — Nokia and manufacturing company Komatsu partnered to certify mining equipment to work on a Nokia private network at a remote mining site.

Telecoms need to step up their network options to lure customers as more companies adopt private networks. These networks offer latency and security benefits for the growing number of cellular IoT devices in use by enterprises.

Ericsson predicts that there will be over 4 billion cellular IoT connections by 2024, up from 1 billion in 2018. The proliferation of these devices will present telecoms with an opportunity to develop offerings that give enterprises quick and secure support for mission-critical applications.