The private network market has been developing for several years and appears poised for a significant expansion as enterprises across a wide range of industries identify compelling use cases. Many enterprises that already use private networks first deployed it a year or two ago in a single factory site after a successful proof of concept (POC). Now, these deployments are scaling up. Organizations that saw cost savings and tangible benefits from their initial POC or single-site private 5G/LTE deployment are expanding to other sites at a rapid pace.
While a number of industries are embracing private 5G/LTE, the utilities vertical shows particularly strong momentum. There are already notable success stories, and more are following suit. Someone in the utilities space once pointed out that, in this market, nobody wants to be first, but everyone wants to be second. As private 5G/LTE networks prove they can support critical use cases between than alternative approaches, more utilities are exploring or accelerating adoption. At industry conferences, many utility companies are actively discussing how private networks can help them and sharing information with peers. The early response has been promising, and more organizations are proceeding with strategic initiatives in this area, including in other industries such as manufacturing, oil and gas, mining, and ports.
As enterprises advance their plans with private 5G/LTE, they often find gaps in their IT and security models that require support from specialized vendors. One notable example is OneLayer, which helps enterprises extend their operations and security capabilities to private networks. The role that vendors like OneLayer play often evolves over time as the enterprise’s 5G/LTE network matures. When a network is small—as the enterprise evaluates use cases and tries to understand potential benefits—vendors such as OneLayer typically serve as a security and asset management orchestrator. This includes providing visibility into which devices are connected, tracking changes in identity or location, and monitoring for compelling events like device swaps.
Broader concerns arise for larger customers with 1,000 devices or more. At this point, enterprises need more scalable and resilient processes for provisioning and activating of large numbers of SIMs, including associating SIMs with the correct profiles. More robust Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) security is another key need, and vendors like OneLayer can provide ZTNA security and the missing context to security enforcement points like network access control (NAC) platforms and firewalls and ensure that network alerts also feed into existing IT or OT alerting systems. Integrating device data into key operational systems such as IT service management (ITSM) and configuration management databases (CMDBs) is another critical gap that specialized vendors like OneLayer can fill.
Evergy, a U.S.-based utility company, used this approach successfully to scale its private network. Evergy needed to provision and activate hundreds of SIMs at once and keep track of each SIM’s profile, including the device it was inserted into—a Sierra Wireless or a 4RF device. The process also required knowing and managing the devices’ locations over time.
Provisioning posed the biggest challenge. Using an Ericsson core, Evergy manually provisioned each new batch of devices, which was time-consuming and error prone. It also diverted RF engineers from more pressing tasks.
From there, they partnered with OneLayer to automate the entire provisioning process so that Evergy’s team could upload a file and have all SIMs provisioned automatically, ready for field deployment. This significantly shortened the onboarding timeline, from receiving the SIMs to getting them into operation.
Another OneLayer-enabled deployment in the manufacturing sector showcases how existing enterprise security practices can be extended to private 5G/LTE as well. In this case, OneLayer extended segmentation groups to a firewall, monitoring the tags that classified devices at different security levels. For example, level two devices could not communicate with level three or four devices. OneLayer tracked all network identifiers for each device and forwarded them to the firewall, ensuring the firewall’s enforcement remained accurate even if IP addresses or SIMs changed.
Given the technical complexity of cellular networks, emerging players like OneLayer must forge strong partnerships with core vendors. OneLayer’s role in these partnerships starts with Zero-Trust and Zero-Touch security solutions, which combine advanced security measures and comprehensive asset management to ensure seamless and secure operations across private networks. This is combined with simplified deployment and integration: OneLayer’s Nokia partnership, for example, allows for a one-touch installation process that reduces complexity and accelerates deployment, providing customers with a plug-and-play marketplace experience that simplifies the adoption of private 5G/LTE networks. OneLayer’s approach, when bundled with core vendor offerings, enables robust scalability and operational efficiency, meeting the evolving digitalization needs of industries and ensuring customer satisfaction as demand for secure private enterprise networks grows.
One of the main challenges enterprises face in managing a private 5G/LTE network efficiently is ensuring a seamless fit between existing IT and OT ecosystems and new cellular networks. Many enterprises already have systems for asset management, rule enforcement, or authentication, and these must mesh seamlessly with cellular technology.
Acting as an orchestrator, OneLayer’s software gathers real-time information from the cellular core and integrates it with standard IT and OT systems. For instance, SIM provisioning could begin in a ticketing system, and any related alerts might feed into a platform like Splunk. Achieving more efficient connectivity between cellular and IT systems is a key need that vendors like OneLayer address by streamlining integration.
Private 5G/LTE networks are at an exciting stage. Partnerships—whether with system integrators, advisors, or fellow technology vendors—are critical to success, especially in an emerging space where innovation and change happen quickly.
Adapting to constant change would be nearly impossible without collaboration and mutual learning among partners. Sustaining an engaged, collaborative ecosystem is vital so private networks can continue expanding and delivering value. For the full potential of private networks to be realized, emerging vendors like OneLayer and larger vendors of cellular core, IT operations, and security technologies must stay in step with evolving enterprise needs and work in concept to adapt to a changing landscape.
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