Presentation given by Dean Bubley of Disruptive Analysis at the TechUK Neutral Hosts conference in London on 14th Jan 2019. Covers enterprise & IoT wireless needs, and scope for 3rd parties to obtain spectrum, run networks and act as "reverse MVNOs" for 4G & 5G
3. Dean Bubley & Disruptive Analysis
Tech/telecom analyst & strategic consulting since 1991
Futurism, Forecasting, Anti-Forecasting, Policy
Cross-silo, contrarian, independent
Often provocative. Sometimes obscure. Occasionally wrong.
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
Network Tech, Policy
& Business Models
Communications
Apps & Services
Telecom-Futurism
4. Overall story…
Policy should reflect complexity & diversity of future enterprise requirements.
Can’t be one-size-fits-all monoculture – need for new wholesale / neutral-host models
But some use-cases & locations need licensed/protected, enterprise-controlled networks
Some “intermediate” approaches, such as managed services, network slicing, MVNOs etc
Not all use-cases can be satisfied with licensed/MNO service model, or unlicensed/owned
Growing importance of wireless for enterprise: On-site & wide-area IoT, field-workers, voice, visitors
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
5. Demand for mobile access by many user types
January 2019
Sensors & controls (non-
mobile, low-power)
On/offsite employees &
collaboration UC / UCaaS
Tenants &
Contractors
Onsite Mobile IoT
Guests & visitors Safety & Security
eg push-to-talk
Services-based
“connected” models
Roaming / intl
footprint
6. Multiple dimensions for future wireless networks, 3-10yrs
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2018
November 2018
bpd
bps
Gbps
10m
Non-
critical
Function-
critical
90%
99%
99.9%
Rural
Visitor
Customer
Tenant
Machine
Employee
User
3D
Coverage
Bandwidth
Kbps
Importance
Business-
critical
Safety-
critical
Range
<1m
Mbps
And also:
Vertical
Socioeconomic
Geopolitical
Security model
Mobility
Integration
Bi-directional
Protocols
Lobbying power
1km
>10km
100m
Managed
spectrum?
Biz Model
MNO
Amenity
Community
Indoor
Unlicensed /
shared bands?
MVNO
Private
Decentralised
Neutral host
Operator
Developer
7. Every vertical sector has unique wireless requirements
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8. Not just industrial interest in enterprise cellular
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
In-room coverage,
“unroaming” for guests
& “Free 5G” for
conference guests
All-operator coverage,
UC/meeting integration,
workgroup/team billing
Capacity density, Instant
replays via MEC nodes,
Content rights
protection, VIPs
Ultra-low latency,
compliance/recording, data
sovereignty, private
number/addresses
Critical comms, 100%
coverage in buildings /
underground, secure,
pre-emption, new IoT
Communities,
challenging economics,
neutral hosts,
Government priorities
9. Added complexity: multiple enterprise owners / users
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
Location Type Owners / Authorities Tenants / occupants / users
Residential (house, apartment block,
care home, parking)
Owner-occupier, landlord, leaseholder,
local authority, housing association
Homeowner, family, renters, guests,
consumer IoT devices, vehicle
Office building or campus Corporate owner, building-as-a-service
provider, government, educational
Tenant companies, staff, workspace
renters, students, visitors / contractors,
catering & cleaning, smart-building IoT
(eg elevators & coffee machines)
Public building (shopping mall,
sports stadium, hospital etc)
Corporate owner, government authority,
health/university body
Visitors, staff, contractors, IoT devices
(some business/safety-critical), multi-
tenant retailers & concessions
Industrial facility (oil refinery, factory,
wind-farm, power station etc)
NB Challenging RF environment
(metalwork, interference etc)
Corporate owner, contractors Employees, equipment & systems
suppliers, safety systems, IoT including
safety-critical.
Vehicles & transport (bus, train, port,
airport, station, tunnel)
Government authority, private
companies, outsourcers
Travellers, staff, contractors, B2B (e.g.
airlines, freight forwarders), concessions
(eg retail), IoT, govt/safety authorities
10. Enterprise and “verticals” are multi-faceted
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
Vertical sector Oppo’s for 5G ultra-low latency,
high QoS
Opportunity for 5G massive IoT,
LPWA
Oppo’s for new niche MNOs &
private 5G
Smart cities
Sports & entertainment
Utilities
Manufacturing
Agriculture
Automotive
Rail/air transport
Public safety
Property dvlpt / offices
11. MNOs address some verticals/sites/uses, but not all
Limited domain expertise
Coverage challenges, esp rural & indoor
Site access difficulties
Safety / other certification
Data security / ownership
IoT platform integration
Liability issues
Regulatory limits
Commercial model
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
Also: Network-slicing in 5G solves different (wide-area) problems
12. Need for micro-M(V)NOs – but what spectrum / biz model?
Niche MVNO
Shared: CBRS type, multiple tiers
Shared: Geo-fenced licenses
Nationwide Industry 4.0 band
Indoor / onsite license-exempt
MNO: managed local “slice”
MNO: leased spectrum
Private core / slice (or SliceVNO)
Secondary re-use (non-interfere)
Wi-Fi in licensed/shared band
Unlicensed cellular
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
Power station
Car factory
Airport
Oil refinery
Port
Offshore
windfarm
Precision
farming
Smart City
Village
13. Many options for enterprise / private networks & MVNOs
Private
Wi-Fi &
LPWAN
Enterprise-
focused
MVNO
Enterprise
own MVNO
MNO
custom
network
slice
MNO 3rd
party
network
slice
SliceaaS
Enterprise /
vertical
private core
network
3rd-party
Neutral
Host
mobile
network
Enterprise
private
mobile
network
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019
Plus many hybrids & variations (eg spectrum /
asset ownership, outsourcing)
Voice /
UC
centric
IoT
centric
14. Multiple backgrounds to “neutral host” & sharing providers
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Industry
vertical
specialists
Managed
WiFi
operators
Community
& municipal
networks
Property
companies
& investors
Advertising
& phone-
booth co’s
Network
equipment
providers
Tower Co’s
Fixed /
cable
operators
Cellular
DAS
operators
Venue
owners
15. Many “moving parts” for private/neutral 4G/5G networks
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Shared &
Unlicensed
Spectrum
IoT / MVNO
/ MVNE /
Slicing
platforms
Small
Cells, WiFi,
cabling
eSIM &
RSP
Virtualised
Core /
Transport
Network
Cloud OSS
/ BSS &
edge-
compute
Number
ranges &
MNCs
Roaming &
Inter-
connect
Devices &
chipsets
Voice, PTT,
video,
messaging
Physical
design,
integrate &
build
For example, how will realtime charging, bundled content, voice calls
or network slicing work while a user roams onto a neutral host?
16. Conclusion: multiple neutral & private models needed
Outcome focus: recognise need for & enable private wireless (esp. cellular)
MNOs can’t do everything. Neither can WiFi. Specialist networks will need spectrum.
Recognise different contexts: in-building, large site, remote location, national etc
These may need different sharing models (CBRS-type, secondary-license indoor etc)
Extension of existing ISM/unlicensed bands will help for LPWA, next-gen Wi-Fi etc
Neutral host is an important part of this mix
Many variations of NHN are possible
Commercial & IT practicalities may be much harder than expected
Radio might be the easy part, compared to services & commercial arrangements
Unrealistic for MNOs to negotiate with many single-location NH’s
Needs joined-up policies alongside wholesale, numbering, neutrality, access to MNC codes,
national roaming, spectrum trading/leasing etc.
Enterprises will need more than just spectrum to build/operate networks
Don’t believe the hype & spin about 5G and network-slicing as being a cure-all
Copyright Disruptive Analysis Ltd 2019January 2019