In this blog, we look at the service cases of private 5G operators in Japan and the United States that share 5G core control plane (build UPF and RAN in corporate sites and use 5GC CP as a cloud service of private 5G operators).
<Private 5G operator's service (5G core control plane sharing type) - network architecture>
NTT East, NTT Com, NEC, and NESIC in Japan and AWS and Google in the United States are providing commercial or trial private 5G services. NTT East and NTT Com have deployed 5G core control planes (5GC CP) in their data centers, NEC and NESIC are hosting them in the AWS cloud, and AWS and Google are hosting them in their regions.
5GC CP, which is expensive in the range of $300K to 400K, is not built for each customer site, but is placed in the cloud and shared by multiple enterprise customers.
Therefore, compared to the on-premise type, the cost of building a private 5G network per customer site is reduced, and the service fee becomes relatively cheaper.
The service plan is divided into the case of (1) paying a monthly fee for 5G Core and RAN as a subscription type, or (2) purchasing UPF and RAN equipment in enterprise premise and using 5GC CP as a subscription type.
NEC (Local 5G Starter Pack) sells 5G UPF and 5G RAN to enterprises for a lump sum, builds them in the enterprise premises, and hosts 5GC CP in the AWS Cloud to provide enterprises with a subscription (cloud 5GC CP usage fee) in the form of a cloud service (A mix of purchase and subscription types).
To reduce the initial cost for enterprises, NTT Com, NTT East, NEC (local 5G portable trial pack service), and AWS provide 5G UPF and 5G RAN at the customer site for free or at a minimal cost, and provide 5GC CP as a cloud service. Enterprises pay a monthly subscription fee (on-site UPF, RAN usage fee, cloud 5GC CP usage fee, and operation and maintenance fee) to these providers (subscription type).
NEC has developed a low-cost, lightweight, all-in-one base station (RU, DU, CU integrated into one unit) that reduces equipment purchase costs for enterprises in the purchase type and subscription fees in the subscription type.
Since the 5G Core Control Plane(CP) and User Plane(UP) are separated and the CP is shared at the center, a backhaul line is required to transmit 5G control messages between the CP at the center and the UP at the enterprise site.
5G control messages are neither large nor ultra-low latency. Therefore, in most cases of NTT East Japan, NTT Com, NEC, AWS, and Google, it can be seen that VPN lines on the Internet are built instead of high-quality, expensive dedicated leased-lines. NESIC is using a 100Mbps VPN line (on the Internet) as a backhaul line in its commercial local 5G service, and NTT Com is using a 70Mbps VPN line (on a closed Ethernet network) in the local 5G demonstration project of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications in 2022.
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1. NTT East's Giga-Raku 5G service in Japan
2. NTT Com's Local 5G service in Japan
3. NESIC's Local 5G service in Japan
4. NEC's Local 5G service in Japan
5. NEC's Local 5G Starter Pack service in Japan
6. NEC's Local 5G portable trial pack servicein Japan
7. Google's Private Network Solution in the US
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1. NTT East (Wire-line Carrier) |
- Private 5G service: Giga-Raku 5G service (NTT East PR, 넷매니아즈 분석글)
- Managed local 5G service to design, procure, build, and operate 5G SA private networks for enterprises
- Commercial service launched on May 30, 2022.
- Flat-rate pricing regardless of local 5G traffic volume (unlimited 5G data communications)
- Commercial model: Subscription Type (Small Start, lower upfront costs)
- Minimum configuration: 5G Core + CU + DU + 1 RU + backhaul line (VPN) = ¥300,000/month
- For expanded coverage: ¥24,000/month per additional RU, ¥67,000/month per additional DU channel card (added when there are more than 7 RUs)
- Deployment model: 5G Core Control Plane Sharing Type
- 5GC CP is located in NTT East D/C and shared by multiple enterprise customers (Network Slicing)
- UPF/CU, DU, RU are deployed at the customer site (for low latency, high capacity applications)
- Internet VPN line (1Gbps) is used as backhaul line
- Up and down speed adjustment (DL/UL): 1,488Mbps/230Mbps, 988Mbps/466Mbps
- At the time of service launch on May 30, 2022, the number of RUs was up to 6. Due to the high demand for large-scale local 5G networks in manufacturing, logistics, airports, seaports, and stadiums, NTT East will begin offering the addition of DU Channel Guard as an optional service from October 14, 2022.
- 5G spectrum: Japanese local 5G frequency (4.6-4.9GHz)
- 5G vendor: Samsung
- Reduce initial costs by providing free equipment in the customer site + monthly subscription model
- Reduce deployment costs per customer site by sharing 5GC CP to lower 5GC CP subscription fees
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2. NTT Com (Wire-line Carrier) |
- Private 5G service: Local 5G service
- Providing local 5G equipment (Sub-6, SA) and knowledge (managed services)
- "Local 5G Service" provides support for introduction consulting, license acquisition, equipment construction, and operation in building a local 5G environment.
- Started commercial service on March 30, 2021
- Aim to secure 500 sites by 2025
- Commercial model: Subscription Type (Small Start, lower upfront costs) - From ¥1.5 million/month
- Deployment model: 5G Core Control Plane Sharing Type
- 5GC CP is located at NTT Com's office and shared by multiple enterprise customers (Network Slicing)
- UPF, CU/DU, RU are deployed in the enterprise premises (for low latency, high capacity applications)
- Backhaul line is NTT Com's Arcstar Universal One VPN line
- Utilization of NTT Docomo's local 5G deployment support services (carrier-grade deployment): site survey, cell design, installation
- In the future, network slicing will be provided for UPFs and base stations within enterprises, allowing an enterprise to create and operate multiple slices in the workplace. This will allow enterprises to freely customize their local 5G networks by creating various slices according to their needs. NTT Com cites as an example the operation of a slice in which factory operation data is carried on a slice that does not leak to the outside world, while internet access is forwarded to the internet slice.
- 5G spectrum: Japanese local 5G frequency (4.6-4.9GHz)
- 5G vendor: Ericsson
- Reduce initial costs by providing free equipment in the customer site + monthly subscription model
- Reduce deployment costs per customer site by sharing 5GC CP to lower 5GC CP subscription fees
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3. NESIC (SI Company) |
- Private 5G service: Local 5G service
- Provide one-stop service for design/construction/maintenance
- Reduce backhaul costs by separating CP/UP (compared to having only RAN in the workplace) and reduce local 5G equipment investment costs (compared to on-premise type)
- Available from 2020
- Deployment model: 5G Core Control Plane Sharing Type
- 5GC CP hosted in AWS cloud and shared by multiple enterprise customers (Network Slicing)
- UPF, CU, DU, RU are deployed on premises (low latency, high volume applications)
- Backhaul lines are 100Mbps VPN
- 5G spectrum: Japanese local 5G frequency (4.6-4.9GHz)
- 5G vendor: NEC
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4. NEC (SI Company) |
- Private 5G service: Local 5G service
- Local 5G Consulting, Design, Build, Equip, and Operate as a Service
- Available November 2020
- Commercial model: Subscription Type (Small Start, lower upfront costs) - From ¥1.0 million/month
- Deployment model: 5G Core Control Plane Sharing Type
- 5GC CP hosted in AWS cloud and shared by multiple enterprise customers (Network Slicing)
- UPF, CU, DU, RU are deployed on premises (low latency, high volume applications)
- Backhaul lines are routed through an Internet VPN
- 5G spectrum: Japanese local 5G frequency (4.6-4.9GHz)
- 5G vendor: NEC
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5. NEC (SI Company) |
- Private 5G service: Local 5G Starter Pack (NEC Press Release, 넷매니아즈 분석글)
- Local 5G services for small and medium-sized networks
- Commercially available January 20, 2022
- Commercial model: A mix of purchase and subscription types
- Purchase of one all-in-one base station + purchase of one UPF + 1-year subscription to 5GC CP = ¥4,980,000
- Managed service (monitoring, maintenance) subscription: ¥3,000,000/year
- Purchase of 1 additional all-in-one base station: ¥980,000
- Aim to sell 1,000 all-in-one base stations by 2025
- Deployment model: 5G Core Control Plane Sharing Type
- 5GC CP is hosted in AWS cloud and shared by multiple enterprises (Network Slicing)
- UPF and all-in-one base station (CU, DU, RU in one equipment, low cost and easy to build and operate) are installed in the enterprise premises.
- The all-in-one base station has half the range and half the price compared to the separate base station, and is being proposed for small and medium-sized enterprises with an area of 10,000m2 or less.
- Adjustable up and down speed
- 5G spectrum: Japanese local 5G frequency (4.6-4.9GHz)
- 5G vendor: NEC
- Lightweight, low-cost equipment (all-in-one base stations): Reduces the cost of purchasing 5G equipment for enterprises
- 5GC CP sharing reduces deployment costs per customer site, lowering 5GC CP subscription fees
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6. NEC (SI Company) |
- Private 5G service: Local 5G Portable Trial Pack (특징: 로컬 5G망 즉시 이용 가능)
- NEC sets up the equipment in advance and delivers it to the customer's site.
- A set of systems necessary for the use of local 5G, such as base stations, 5G core (UPF), antennas, and 5G terminals, are configured in a portable (box-type) format, eliminating the need for installation and demolition work.
- The backhaul line between the business site and the cloud uses LTE lines and is provided by NEC.
- Commercialization in September 2022
- Commercial model: Subscription Type
- It can be used from a minimum of 3 months, and the price starts at ¥4,900,000 / 3 months (about ¥1,600,000 per month)
- Deployment model: 5G Core Control Plane Sharing Type
- NEC provides two local 5G terminals, a 5G all-in-one base station, UPF, switch, LTE router (with SIM), GPS antenna, and portable server rack at the customer's premises
- The 5GC CP is not located at each customer site, but is shared with the 5GC CP in the NEC cloud.
- Backhaul lines between sites and the cloud utilize LTE lines and are provided by NEC.
- 5G spectrum: Japanese local 5G frequency (4.6-4.9GHz)
- 5G vendor: NEC (All-in-one base station, UPF)
- Reduces initial costs by providing free equipment in the customer site + monthly subscription model
- Lower equipment subscription fees by providing lightweight/low-cost equipment (all-in-one base station)
- Reduce 5GC CP subscription fee by sharing 5GC CP to reduce private 5G network deployment cost per customer site
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7. Google (Hyperscaler) |
- Private 5G service: Private Network Solution (Google Press Release, 넷매니아즈 분석글)
- Managed private 5G service that provides enterprises with RU, Google Distributed Cloud Edge servers to build and operate private 5G networks.
- Deployment model: 5G Core Control Plane Sharing Type
- 5G spectrum: U.S. Private 5G Spectrum (CBRS)
- 5G vendor: Celona
