Increased Speed and Capacity

Without a doubt, higher data download and upload speeds have been the primary driver in mobile service adoption. This increase in data speeds has been achieved using a combination of factors, including the availability of more frequency spectrum, sophisticated and efficient modulation and encoding techniques, and advanced antenna features such as multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO). Faster data speeds open up a lot of possibilities in terms of mobile service applications, and chief among them is the use of video.

Be it real-time videoconferencing, over-the-top video-streaming services such as Netflix and Disney+, video-sharing applications such as TikTok and other social media applications, or simply embedded video on websites, video traffic accounted for 63% of the total mobile traffic in 2019 and is expected to grow to 76% by the year 2025.⁴ The use of ultra-high-definition, 4K, and 8K video streaming—all of which require higher bandwidth and transmission speeds than ever before—means that the demand for higher speed is expected to continue.

Future 5G networks are expected to deliver data speeds of up to 13 times higher than the current average mobile and offer services reaching peak speeds of 20Gbps.^{5, 6}

Content Now

Today, it is no secret that there are more mobile subscribers, and they are consuming more content than ever before. Video remains the primary utilized content category, but the manner in which a typical mobile subscriber utilizes the video content differs from an ordinary broadband user. While streaming video providers such as Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, YouTube, and others make their services available on mobile platforms, only a fraction of streaming video subscribers consume content using mobile devices. Instead, the content generated and consumed by mobile subscribers is mostly peer-to-peer video, in the form of either videoconferencing or video-sharing social media applications. An ever-growing number of mobile subscribers are live-sharing their experiences within their social circles, creating a more evenly distributed bandwidth and capacity demand across a wider subscriber base. For instance, a decade ago, in the year 2010, the top 1% of mobile consumers globally accounted for more than 50% of total mobile traffic. However, in the year 2019, the top 1% of mobile consumers generated less than 5% of today’s data traffic.⁷

It’s critical to understand and grasp this change in mobile consumer behavior regarding content creation and utilization. Traditionally, the focus of service enhancement for a mobile user’s speed enhancements has been in the downlink direction. With users not only consuming but also generating video content anywhere and anytime, however, there has been a steady uptick in upstream traffic growth as well. Higher-resolution video formats, widespread use of high-definition videoconferencing for both leisure and business purposes, along with the rapidly changing future of work to a hybrid “in-person + virtual” employment model, means the need for higher speed in both the uplink and downlink, along with reliable mobile services, will continue not only to grow but also likely evolve from live to more immersive, real-time communications.

Real-Time and Immersive Experiences

It’s hard to imagine a more perfect union than that of higher mobile data speed and increased video consumption. More than 80% of all information humans consume is primarily through visual aids such as video. The combination of higher speed and our preference for video acts as a feedback loop that continues to drive demand for even higher speeds and an appetite for more video consumption. More recently, in addition to live-streaming, there has been a growing use of real-time, immersive traffic services, video, and the like. These real-time services require significantly lower end-to-end delay when compared to live or conversational video and voice traffic.

It’s easy to mix the concept of live versus real-time communications. Live communications can tolerate some measure of delay without much adverse effect. For instance, a sporting event might be broadcasted live but might be received by viewers a few seconds later. Real-time communications are considered to be more instantaneous, where a delay in transmission could render the data obsolete. Examples of real-time traffic include delivery of stock prices in financial markets for high-frequency trading as well as communication between a fleet of autonomous self-driving vehicles in close proximity to avoid collisions and accidents. Both of these are examples where any delay incurred during transmission of data could lead to missed financial opportunities or accidents causing damage and injuries, or even fatalities. In other words, real-time information might become outdated if not delivered and consumed within a very strict, predetermined time frame.

One of the biggest use cases for real-time services is online gaming, where end-to-end latency requirements are much stricter than live video and other commonly used applications. Advancements made in LTE and 4G have already made significant progress in providing near-real-time services and experiences to mobile gamers. Online mobile gaming revenue, a direct result of low-latency mobile services, is expected to grow from US$68 billion in 2019 to US$102 billion by 2023.⁸

5G networks are anticipated to introduce new use cases that continue to push the envelope as it pertains to low-latency service with applications such as industrial robotics, remote medical procedures, haptic feedback for transmitting touch over the Internet, drone communications, and more. These new services go far beyond simple live communication and would be used for both leisure and mission-critical purposes. While today’s mobile gaming operates within a 20–30 millisecond latency budget, these new real-time applications and use cases expect much lower network latency—typically in the order of microseconds. The bandwidth requirements can vary depending on the application type, but they all consistently require less than 1 millisecond latency—something that current network architectures would struggle to provide. In order to properly support these applications, 5G networks would not only need to be faster and more reliable but also go through architectural changes to ensure real-time communications.

Universal Connectivity and Reliability

With mobile usage venturing from relative luxury into a necessity and further into mission-critical applicability, service availability and reliability have become a cornerstone of modern mobile networks. Availability of new frequency spectrum and advanced antenna features are enabling faster data speeds, higher capacity, and wider mobile coverage on an unprecedented scale—so much so that, in some cases, future 5G networks could supplement or replace a subscriber’s wired Internet access—an implementation called Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). ⁹

FWA could be beneficial for residents in remote locations where wired broadband access may not be feasible due to cost and logistical reasons. For these locations, mobile broadband may be an alternative to wired broadband services; in some cases, governments actively subsidize efforts to provide mobile access to its citizens in remote communities. The 5G Rural First initiative in the United Kingdom and the 5G Fund for Rural America in the USA are two examples of government projects using eMBB services aimed at extending broadband access to remote or under-served locations.^10,11

Mobile operators are also starting to position FWA-based mobile-based access as a replacement for wired broadband connectivity. Even though there is some skepticism, and rightly so, as to whether FWA would be able to replace wired services, service providers have already started offering FWA as part of their 5G plans. An example of this is Verizon’s 5G Home Internet, that uses its 5G technology to provide residential broadband Internet services¹² – a service that has traditionally been provided by wired technologies such as cable, PON, or DSL.

Connected Everything

By the year 2023, it is expected that there will be three times more IP-connected devices than there are people on earth, translating to about 29 billion devices.¹³ A lot of this growth is driven by embedding sensors and mobile transceivers in everyday things that can then communicate over the Internet or through private networks, thus creating an Internet of Things (IoT). In essence, IoT is the name given to the network architecture where things, instead of people, communicate and share data between each other. The devices that make up the IoT framework can communicate using a variety of mechanisms, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, LoRaWAN, wired connectivity (Ethernet), as well as mobile networks.

IoT applications range from consumer to industrial to public works as well as military-driven use cases, but they are all dependent on ubiquitous connectivity and reliability. Some examples of the IoT ecosystem include connected homes, wearable technology, remote health monitoring, supply chain management, vehicular communications, environmental monitoring, remote surveillance, and many more. For instance, IoT-enabled smart utility meters can automatically upload usage data directly to the billing systems periodically, smart trash cans in public spaces can request a garbage pickup when sensors detect critical levels of trash in the bins, and soil monitors in agricultural fields may communicate with control systems to turn on water in areas where needed. These machine-to-machine communications are forecasted to be the fastest growing communication category, on track to account for over 50% of total devices and connections over the coming years.

Most of these connected devices might not use a significant amount of bandwidth and might not even require continuous connectivity. As a lot of IoT devices could be deployed in unmanned locations, they must be low maintenance, and because they are usually battery powered, these devices must conserve power whenever possible. As such, the sensors on these devices might come online periodically, sometimes just once a day or less, and transmit data in small bursts. While not very chatty and bandwidth consuming, the sheer volume of billions of new devices connecting to the mobile network means the future 5G network must take into consideration new services geared toward machine communication.

Dedicated Services and Private Networks

Current mobile networks are mostly geared toward providing bulk data as a service. Live video transmission requires high bandwidth and speed but could tolerate slightly higher network latency. Real-time traffic, on the other hand, demands instant delivery and might or might not require extensive bandwidth. IoT-enabled devices could instead use short-lived, bursty traffic that requires neither high speed nor instant delivery, but the number of connected devices could create a scalability challenge for the network. Another concern across mobile subscribers is data and information security. This becomes especially important for enterprise mobile customers, where compromised communications could have adverse consequences.

Future 5G mobile and transport networks must be able to accommodate these diverse requirements across multiple use cases and provide mobile services customized to individual application. One of the proposed mechanisms in 5G to deal with multiple service types over a common network infrastructure is the use of network slicing, which is discussed in the next section.

In addition to the network slicing for dedicated services, 5G is also expected to build upon the concept of private cellular networks introduced in the 4G LTE networks. These private networks allow an enterprise (that is, not a mobile service provider) to build and deploy their own cellular networks on its premises. The adoption of these private networks is fueled by the simplicity of setting up a mobile network offering robust coverage over larger and/or harder-to-reach geographical areas such as factory floors, mines, offshore oil rigs, stadiums, disaster zones, and others. The trend toward a private cellular network is further facilitated by the availability of additional RF spectrum (such as CBRS) in 5G.

On-Demand, Rapid Service Deployment

In today’s fast-paced environment, both individual and enterprise mobile subscribers value the speed of execution and agility almost as much as bandwidth and reliability. Subscribers demand quick service activation, instant modifications to their existing service when requested, and up-to-date information on their usage levels. These consumers expect a portal to do all these things, but the tasks performed by residential and enterprise customers using these portals might differ. Residential subscribers might expect a self-service portal to upgrade or downgrade individual services, whereas an enterprise customer might need to integrate new mobile devices with their software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) solution in order to gain connectivity. Either way, providing subscribers with the ability to create their own on-demand service requests with quick fulfillment is a crucial expectation from today’s and future mobile subscribers. Automation is fundamental to achieving these self-service, rapid, and on-demand service execution expectations.

However, that’s not the only application of automation in the mobile service provider’s network. Network operators have been pursuing virtualization of various network elements and functions over the past few years. Based on industry demand and market direction, equipment manufacturers have been introducing virtualized versions of RAN and mobile core components such as Baseband Unit (BBU), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Serving Gateway (SGW), and so on for mobile service providers to deploy. Virtualization’s true benefits cannot be unlocked, unless it’s coupled with automation to deploy, monitor, manage, and scale. The emerging use of public clouds for hosting virtualized components has compounded the need for automation as the mobile providers now have to integrate their existing tools with the cloud providers’ toolset, which typically has been built with an automation first mindset. The trend toward virtualization is expected to continue, along with the use of container-based applications better suited to be hosted in a cloud environment. Chapter 5, “5G Fundamentals,” covers containers and cloud-native architecture in further detail. Along with virtualization and containerization, the effective use of automation tools in a mobile service provider’s infrastructure will be a key component in enabling 5G services.

New Spectrum and Advanced Antenna Functions

First and foremost, among these new 5G enabling technologies is the introduction of new spectrum and advanced antenna features. The types of average and peak data rates expected by future 5G networks are not possible without crucial RAN and RF performance enhancements. Unlocking the new sub-1GHz and sub-7GHz spectrum, as well as the use of new mmWave spectrum above 24GHz, provides mobile service providers with a healthy mix of coverage and capacity spectrums, increased data rate, and wider coverage. In addition to the new spectrum ranges, 5G-capable radios called 5G New Radio (5G NR) have gone through significant upgrades as well. The 5GNR features are aimed at providing a superior customer experience, not only increasing uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) speeds, but also increasing overall cell capacity and reliability. 5G NR extends some of the already existing features, such as MIMO and Coordinated Multipoint, but introduces more, such as beam forming and dynamic spectrum sharing. Chapter 5 covers these advanced antenna functions and their application in more detail.

RAN and Mobile Core Decomposition

With the decomposition of RAN in Centralized-RAN (C-RAN) architectures, the transport and RAN domains started getting intertwined. Pooling the BBUs for multiple cell sites together in the C-RAN hub provides better spectral efficiency as well as cost savings for mobile service providers. RAN architectures for 5G will continue to evolve, creating even more RAN decomposition. This architectural evolution toward RAN decomposition has created an opportunity for open interfaces, instead of the traditionally proprietary ones. Open RAN (O-RAN) Alliance, a consortium of network operators and mobility equipment manufacturers, is working toward defining specifications to support truly open interfaces in the RAN domain.¹⁶

Simultaneously, and independent of the RAN decomposition, mobile core architecture has undergone a similar process of spreading out 5G Core components across multiple locations. This decomposition is aimed at bringing the components of the mobile core responsible for interacting with user traffic close to the RAN. These user plane (U-Plane) components could be placed in the Centralized-RAN hub sites alongside the BBUs and could thus reduce transit latency, resulting in efficient traffic handling. The control plane (C-Plane) elements of the mobile core could stay in the central DC. This Control Plane and User Plane Separation (CUPS) is a fundamental architectural shift in the 5G mobile core and, along with RAN decomposition, is covered in more detail in Chapter 5.

Networking Slicing

Another innovation that 5G is meant to bring is the capability of network slicing. Given the widespread use of mobile services, new use cases that require strict bandwidth or latency requirements, and ongoing security concerns, many enterprises, governments, and other entities are asking for dedicated mobile networks to carry their traffic. Obviously, it is not feasible to create a dedicated network infrastructure for each individual customer; however, network slicing would enable a mobile operator to offer such a service. Network slicing offers a logically partitioned network to provide dedicated services and network characteristics requested by the service and can contain resources across multiple network segments such as transport, data centers, and so on.

In its simplest form, a network slice is akin to a virtual private network (VPN) that provides logical traffic and service separation over a given network infrastructure. However, a network slice instance not only provides traffic segregation but can also offer exclusive use of network resources—interfaces, routers, compute, storage, mobile core components, and RAN resources—based on the characteristics requested by the slice instance. For example, a slice instance created for high bandwidth and capacity would only use higher-bandwidth interfaces, even if it means taking a slightly longer path, whereas a low-latency slice would use the lowest latency path, even if it’s different from the IGP shortest path. Similarly, if the slice instance requires high security and confidentiality, it would avoid any unencrypted interface, using only the interfaces that provide traffic encryption, even if the secure path is not the optimal best path. Figure 4-3 show a transport network with multiple slices, each with its own network characteristic.

Just like any other mobile service, a network slice might not be a permanent entity and go through a full lifecycle of being instantiated, created, managed, and monitored when in use and torn down or deleted when no longer required. Given the intricacies of weaving together a network slice instance across multiple domains, the role of automation is paramount. Network slicing is one of the most anticipated and talked about capabilities made possible with 5G, and use cases such as low latency, high-bandwidth utilization, security, and more are expected to make use of it. Network slicing, more specifically 5G transport network slicing, is further discussed in Chapter 6.

Automation

Automation has already been at the forefront of every service provider’s priorities for the past several years. Mobile and Internet service providers have seen exponential growth in the number of devices connecting to the network. These devices and subscribers have been using more data at higher speeds, requiring service providers to upgrade their network infrastructure to meet the demand. In the meantime, the revenues from these subscribers have not grown at a comparable pace, forcing service providers to explore efficient operations through automation for cost savings. With an even higher number of devices connecting to the network, the use of automation for reducing operational cost is expected to not only continue but accelerate when it comes to enabling new technologies and architectures for future 5G networks.

With modern mobile services spanning multiple domains, the scope of automation has grown from single-device or single-purpose automation to cross-domain and business process automation. Today, automation processes and use cases in a modern network can take multiple forms and could be used to provision new cell site equipment with minimal to no human interaction, to instantiate and manage a new network slice, or they could use complex logic to identify and correct commonly encountered issues in the network. Use of automation processes not only expedite deployment times and provide efficiency, but they also contribute to significant OPEX savings by automating repeatable tasks. 5G networks, which are expected to expand mobile service to millions of new users, billions of new devices, and use an intricate integration of RAN, transport, data center, and mobile core domains, will rely on more automation than ever. Chapter 10, “Designing and Implementing 5G Network Architecture,” further explores the role of automation in enabling 5G networks and services.

Mapping 5G Enablers to Market Trends

Each of the 5G enabling technologies and innovations mentioned thus far directly correlate with the emerging trends and expectations subscribers have come to expect from mobile networks. For instance, RAN and mobile core decomposition is directly related to providing low-latency traffic, thus enabling an immersive and real-time experience for mobile subscribers. The availability of new spectrum and advanced antenna features collectively increases capacity and data speeds along with better reliability and seamless mobility. On the other hand, automation and network slicing bring dedicated services, agility, and execution speed to 5G networks. Figure 4-4 explores this relationship between various 5G enabling technologies and the market trends and expectations.

Mobile service providers use catchy buzzwords, loosely connected to their underlying technical characteristics, in their marketing campaigns to differentiate themselves from competitors. Even if a mobile service provider has not implemented a full end-to-end 5G solution, they often boast of their 5G capabilities based on partial implementations. For instance, in the United States, Verizon markets its 5G service offerings as 5G Ultra Wideband or 5G Nationwide, which ties back to the frequency spectrum Verizon uses for these service offerings. The ultra-wideband service refers to the high-band mmWave that provides higher speed and capacity but limited coverage. In contrast, 5G Nationwide refers to using a lower, sub-1GHz spectrum, providing greater coverage and reach but at a relatively slower speed.¹⁷ Similarly, T-Mobile labels its 5G service offerings as 5G Ultra Capacity and 5G Extended Range, referring to a high- or mid-band frequency spectrum and a sub-1GHz frequency spectrum, respectively, thus providing a mix of speed and coverage.¹⁸ The use of spectrum and the particular service availability are also dependent on what frequency spectrum is available for a mobile service provider in a given geographical region. Chapter 2, “Anatomy of Mobile Communication Networks,” covered the details of how a specific frequency spectrum is allocated for use.

Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB)

Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) is a natural evolution of 4G mobile services and one of the first 5G services to be implemented, primarily focused on providing a better data service experience for mobile subscribers. A better data service naturally includes higher upload and download data speeds, but eMBB also includes provisions for consistent coverage over larger geographical areas as well as better user mobility for scenarios where a subscriber may be moving at high speeds in trains, automobiles, or planes.²¹ It must be noted that early 5G service campaigns by mobile service providers focused entirely on eMBB’s underlying characteristics—higher speeds (for example, 5G Ultra Wideband or 5G Ultra Capacity) and greater coverage (for example, 5G Nationwide or 5G Extended Range).

In many aspects, eMBB is the first phase of the 5G era that was predominantly implemented using the new (and in some cases repurposed) sub-7GHz and mmWave frequency spectrum and 5G NR advanced antenna functions. The higher data speeds specified by eMBB not only allow faster Internet browsing and live video chats but can eventually rival data speeds typically associated with fixed broadband connections. Another application of eMBB is the use of mobile services as “hotspots” in areas with a high concentration of low-mobility users. In such a case, eMBB would need to provide a larger total area capacity. Figure 4-5 summarizes some of the key aspects of an eMBB service.²²

With peak speeds of up to 20Gbps and average user speed in 100s of Mbps, eMBB would be vital to introducing many new services and applications. One such example is immersive experiences like virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) on mobile platforms. Another could be the use of eMBB to provide FWA-based broadband Internet access, replacing traditional broadband services.

Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC)

While eMBB focuses on data speeds and volume, the Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications (URLLC) service aims at enabling real-time use cases. URLLC use cases have applications in multiple industry verticals such as healthcare, transportation, industrial automation, entertainment, and more. All URLLC applications are rooted in one fundamental requirement: instantaneous delivery of mobile traffic.

However, there are multiple challenges for URLLC implementations originating from existing mobile communications network architectures. First and foremost is that the mobile devices, part of the RAN domain, must communicate with mobile core components such as SGW to send and receive any traffic. The two domains are typically connected by an elaborate mobile backhaul (MBH) network with access, aggregation, and core layers—each with multiple routers. Because the central data center hosting mobile core components could be dozens, if not hundreds, of kilometers from the cell site, propagation delay is also a significant contributor to latency. Besides, the radio interface itself is not optimized for low-latency communications and needs to be improved further. Suffice it to say, the current MCN architectures are not built with URLLC in mind.

RAN and mobile core decomposition and Mobile Edge Compute (MEC) offer an architecture that makes URLLC possible. A lot of the URLLC use cases are geared toward processing the U-Plane traffic as close to the user as possible. Such an arrangement can be achieved through the use of MEC, where applications are placed in data centers closer to the RAN, known as far edge data centers. This approach is also aided by mobile core decomposition, where user-plane-specific mobile core components are moved closer to the RAN to reduce the number of devices between the two domains, shortening the propagation delays and lowering the latency for user traffic. Mobile operators may use a low-latency transport network slice to transport traffic between the cell site and far edge DC. Such an architecture may meet the 5G latency requirements of 1ms or less for URLLC services. An example of this architecture could be industrial automation, where robotics applications could be placed in the on-prem data center right next to the mobile core’s user plane components and can communicate with automated machinery on the factory floor without delay.

Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC)

The last of the three services defined by 3GPP is Massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC), which is characterized by connection density rather than data speed, capacity, or latency. mMTC is geared toward accommodating a large number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices that require reliability, coverage area, low cost, and longevity. Even before 5G, there have been multiple standards, platforms, technologies, and network types defined for machine-type communications. Collectively called low-power wide area network (LPWAN), these networks aim to provide long-range, energy-efficient connectivity for IoT devices. Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) and LTE Machine-Type Communications (LTE-MTC or LTE-M) are two examples of LPWAN specifications first defined in 3GPP Releases 13 and 14. There are other network types and specifications for IoT connectivity defined outside of 3GPP, including Long Range (LoRa), which is a proprietary IoT protocol, DASH-7, which is an open protocol developed as an alternative to LoRa, IEEE’s 802.11ah (Wi-Fi HaLow), and several others.

mMTC is an evolution of NB-IoT and LTE-M aimed at enabling massive connection density of up to a million devices per km². The mMTC service type is not latency sensitive and can tolerate service latencies in the order of seconds, as opposed to typical latencies of microseconds or milliseconds, as is the case with URLLC and eMBB. Low-band sub-1GHz frequencies are typically used to implement mMTC service, as devices utilizing these services are often spread over larger coverage areas and do not require high data speeds. However, it must be noted that these devices might still require registration and communication with the mobile core and can cause scale challenges on the mobile network’s control plane. mMTC service definition aims at minimizing these interactions in order to allow ultra-high scale of IoT devices to connect to mobile networks without straining the control plane. 3GPP has defined multiple features such as power saving mode (PSM), extended discontinuous reception (eDRX), and others that allow IoT devices to optimize their power consumption while maintaining minimal interaction with the mobile network.

Private Mobility

Although not defined exclusively as a service, use of Private 5G networks is increasing among large enterprises—especially in the industrial and manufacturing sectors. Simply put, Private 5G refers to a non–mobile service provider setting up their own 5G mobile network. For enterprises, using a private cellular network provides them with consistent and reliable coverage as well as an opportunity to implement URLLC and mMTC services, which may not yet be available from mobile service providers. While private mobility is not just limited to 5G and could be deployed with 4G as well, but the technological innovations and enhancements in 5G have made private mobility feasible.

Over the years, the unlocking of the frequency spectrum means enterprises can buy their own spectrum or lease it from a local mobile service provider.²³ Another option would be the use of the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum, which allows enterprises to use publicly available frequencies without the cost associated with spectrum purchase. Virtualization, cloud hosting, and a move toward open interfaces in the RAN and mobile core are also key enabling factors facilitating the adoption of Private 5G. The RAN and mobile core decomposition and the move toward virtualization have allowed enterprises to use a hybrid model with on-prem and cloud-based deployment. In this case, only the components of the RAN and mobile core that require proximity to the mobile device would be deployed on-premises. The remaining components, including the majority of the mobile core, would be deployed offsite, usually in a cloud environment. Using a hybrid cloud and on-premises deployment model reduces the CAPEX required to set up a private mobility network and uses a much smaller footprint, which may not have been possible in the pre-cloud era.

Using private mobility networks and MEC, enterprises could easily deploy URLLC and mMTC services on their premises—something that major mobile service providers are currently lacking. For manufacturing and distribution warehouses, this could mean massive improvements in operational efficiency with automated assembly lines, robotic process control, autonomous forklifts, guided vehicles, and location tracking—all using local, private mobile networks. Private 5G is still evolving, and new use cases are being identified for industrial IoT, oil and gas exploration, cargo handling at seaports, and more. Private 5G, officially called NPN, was originally defined by 3GPP in Release 16, followed by enhancements in Release 17.²⁴ GSMA also published technical guidelines for 5G campus network deployment in November 2020.²⁵ Private 5G networking holds great potential for replacing large-scale Wi-Fi deployments, and some cloud providers are already tapping into this market by offering streamlined ordering and deployment of Private 5G networks with just a few clicks.