ComSoc Technology News (CTN) is a free, online monthly publication that publishes interesting, timely, and newsworthy articles that span a wide range of topics related to the communications technology industry. Our mission is to be an informational resource that brings diverse perspective and thought leadership, while providing a platform for lively discussion amongst our readers.

CTN is run by a team of volunteer editorial board members who are technical experts in diverse fields. All articles are reviewed and edited by a technical editor. The editor-in-chief performs the final review prior to publication. 

April 2022 Issue

Private Cellular Networks, Are They Finally Ready to Deliver?

In December of 2012 Rio Tinto revealed that it was ready to build a private LTE mobile network at its West Angelas iron ore mine in Western Australia.  With this news, mining companies started a race to deploy cellular based private networks that since then have provided significant benefits to their operations, including production automation, improved safety, and better overall corporate financial performance.  Today there are dozens of mines around the world running either private LTE or even private 5G networks.  But mining is not the only vertical that has benefited from a move to private cellular networks, in fact, private cellular networks have been gaining traction globally in large part driven by this promise of better performance and a more secure enterprise network.  For the last decade many companies have been developing solutions that can support a multiplicity of verticals, and industry associations have come together with the purpose of developing requirements and architectures that can drive standards, and the development of product solutions.   Spectrum is being released globally for this use, while traditional operators are also developing solutions utilizing license and unlicensed spectrum.  

In this article, Wade Sarver provides his “boots on the ground” perspective on private cellular networks, based on his vast experience supporting businesses develop solutions to match their requirements, and getting them to understand the adjustments needed in their organizations to operate these networks effectively.  So, what’s the state of maturity for these solutions?  Read on to find out.

Miguel Dajer, CTN Editor in Chief

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