BICS builds bridges into private networking for MNOs

The concept of Private Mobile Networks (PMNs) is not new, so why the recent industry-wide interest in PMNs and how can the mobile network operators (MNOs) best serve this growing market? Mikael Schachne, VP Telco Market, BICS, explains.

During the second half of 2022, the number of organisations that were deploying LTE or 5G PMNs worldwide rose from 794 in June to 995 in December reported the Global Mobile Suppliers Association (GSA). These are relatively low numbers in the grand scheme of the telco world, but they’re on the rise, and they’re set to accelerate. The number of PMNs globally will skyrocket 1,900% to greater than 20,000 by 2026 with enterprise spend on those networks reaching $5 billion that year according to analyst house Analysys Mason.

Demand for PMNs is increasing because they’re getting easier and more affordable to deploy, they provide greater security and control for enterprise users, as well as targeted high-capacity coverage. Furthermore, PMNs can deliver access to massive amounts of data that can be analysed, enabling processes to be optimised, efficiencies realised, and waste reduced. Demand has, arguably, always been there – lying dormant, but it looks like the enabling technology and scale has finally caught up.

The emergence of hyper-connected organisations, in a movement dubbed by some as Industry 4.0, has seen massive deployments of IoT devices across all industries. Research by GSMA Intelligence identified an incremental IoT revenue opportunity of $1.1 trillion will exist by 2025 for MNOs that can look beyond connectivity in the space with the provision of innovative new services.