2021 showed us that the secret is out. Organizations in nearly every industry are eager to see how 5G can help elevate their operations, employees, customer experience, etc. While we’re helping these organizations realize some of 5G’s potential, other cellular developments in 2021 are prime examples of complementary solutions that could be critical in making that happen.

Private cellular might be the marquee network technology among today’s 5G advances.

But the tool has different flavors and architectures for taking advantage of new opportunities to inform the larger deployments and in shaping their respective ecosystems. This is because they are finding that 5G isn’t a magic wand that you wave across the enterprise to make things better. It’s a piece of a bigger puzzle you start to put together after determining an organization’s objectives, hurdles, and future roadmaps.

WiFi and wired connections will remain important in building effective network solutions.

While 5G, and in particular private cellular networks, can accelerate their roles as enablers for connected sites, creating harmonious converged networks that could include WiFi are what will fuel innovation and new business models across all enterprises, public and private alike. The increased number of network options gives organizations more to navigate. As these organizations begin to work through that “just right” mix of solutions across different spectrum and architecture types, there are the three big questions to consider as starting points toward that “just right” mix.

What type of site is it?

Sites can be interior spaces, outdoors, remote locations, dense urban environments, sub-parts of a larger space among others.

Each can benefit from “site-specific” solution architectures addressing variables influencing cost, complexity, and performance—each critical in setting a starting point toward “just right.”

Who will use the network?

Understanding this will help determine among other things the data ownership model that can address the mix of networks within the given space.

Are people on the network? Things? Both? Who are the people, what are the things and what do they do, or what are the use cases? The user types and use cases will help inform the mix of data creators and owners together suggesting the right network mix at a particular site.