Strengths and capabilities of different private network stakeholders

Overview of Private Network Stakeholders’ Strengths and Capabilities

The different private network requirements and vertical dynamics, along with the need for flexible private network deployment options and scenarios, will drive various opportunities and business cases for new operators and owners to emerge across these industries. Traditional and new telcos have varying strengths and limitations across spectrum holdings/access, asset ownership, and telecoms and vertical expertise.

MNOs’ Advantage in Private Network Deployment and Telco Market Expansion

In addition to leveraging spectrum and public network infrastructure to support different deployment scenarios, MNOs’ major advantage over other players is that they know how to build and manage a cellular network, which grants them a leading role in many private network projects even if the deployment uses local spectrum and is isolated from the public network.

Traditional telcos can also leverage private networks to access new regional markets where they do not own spectrum but want to support their international enterprise clients. An example is Verizon which is looking for private network opportunities in Europe.

Vertical Players’ Expertise in Industry-Specific Private Network Design

In contrast, vertical players usually lack telecoms expertise, but their knowledge about specific industry applications, IT networking and stakeholders’ requirements is often a crucial factor in successfully designing and building a private network.

Some players in industries such as railway and utility services often already have experience using wireless networks and technologies, and have highly specialised and mission-critical needs, and will therefore be less inclined to engage with telcos when developing their private networks.

Exploring Developments, Regulatory Activities, and Deployment Approaches in the Private Network Market

Our report Private networks: Lessons so far and what next explores the recent developments in the private network market, regulatory activities and policies on local and shared spectrum, and the different deployment approaches and business cases for traditional telcos and the expanding range of other stakeholders.

Yesmean Luk

Principal Consultant

Yesmean is a Senior Consultant at STL Partners and has led and managed client projects with both operators and technology companies across a number of domains, including private networks, telco cloud, network slicing, edge computing and IoT. Before joining STL, she held various consulting roles at Deloitte and IBM. She holds a Global MSc in Management from the London School of Economics, specialising in strategy and international business.