Omdia's Pablo Tomasi: Why 2022 won't be the year of 5G private networks

Enterprises are flocking to 5G private networks like magpies to a shiny new penny, but businesses may be just as well-served to stick with 4G LTE for their private networks, according to an Omdia report. For the birds, a private nest should be sufficient.

Pablo Tomasi, principal analyst of private networks for Omdia, joins the podcast to share key findings from his latest report, 2022 Trends to Watch: Private Networks and the Shadow of 5G. Tomasi explains that while the topic of 5G may give service providers a "marketing hook" when discussing private network options with enterprise customers, 4G LTE may provide all the razzle dazzle enterprises need in the near term.

"Everyone wants to talk about 5G, however, let's be honest, 2022 will not be the year of 5G for private networks," says Tomasi. "5G will play an increasingly important role, but despite what everyone wants, this won't be the year of 5G. What we still see in the market is that private LTE is a good enough technology to address the majority of the use cases. There are still a lot of uncertainties regarding what private 5G can do that LTE cannot deliver."

Tomasi discusses which connectivity issues enterprises hope to address through private networks, other demand drivers such better visibility into the workforce and improved automation and how service providers can monetize managed services on private networks.

Related links:

• For more podcast episodes, please visit the Light Reading Podcast page on Acast.
• Tomasi's latest report, 2022 Trends to Watch: Private Networks and the Shadow of 5G, is available now for Omdia subscribers.
• Verizon's Artley on anchoring a private 5G network at Port of Southampton

— Kelsey Kusterer Ziser, Senior Editor, Light Reading