- T-Mobile uses 5G-Advanced lead to roll out hybrid public-private network offering
- Analyst Roy Chua said that healthcare, manufacturing and more may be interested in such a hybrid
- He notes that this is much like many of the public-private systems used over 5G in China
T-Mobile is using its network lead over U.S. rivals to launch more 5G-Advanced features that can offer companies a virtual private network-like experience over T-Mobile’s public network.
“Edge Control is an industry-first ... [using] the nation’s only 5G-Advanced network with local breakouts to deliver private network-like performance without the overhead and it’s significantly better total cost of ownership,” Mo Katibeh, chief marketing officer for T-Mobile for Business, told Fierce.
This, he said, can be controlled by the new T-Platform network management platform, which gives customers access and control of all of their T-Mobile for Business systems through a single, unified portal.
“It’s an orchestration layer that can bring visibility and automation to hybrid,” Katibeth explained. For example, a hospital may keep sensitive clinical data on its private network while allowing visitors and non-sensitive patient traffic on the T-Mobile public network, which is all managed via the T-Platform app.
5G-Advanced gains
The Edge Control local breakout and T-Platform software are T-Mobile’s latest 5G-Advanced features on its network. The operator rolled out the first 5G-Advanced feature called L4S, delivering better video performance over both fixed and mobile connections, in July of this year.
T-Mobile is leading its major mobile rivals with the 5G-Advanced features, which need the T-Mobile 5G standalone (5G SA) network to operate. AT&T and Verizon have only recently offered their own 5G SA networks to consumers, so it will be a while before these operators offer 5G-Advanced features.
“This kind of hybrid capability that provides local breakout controls will favor industries that are looking for local (on-premises and private cloud) processing of mobile data, both on-premises, and remote Industries in which IoT, IIoT (industrial IoT) or IoMT (internet of medical things) devices dominate and which require sensitive data handling or lower latency processing can benefit from Edge Control (and the associated enterprise control platform T-Platform)," AvidThink principal Roy Chua told Fierce.
Companies that may be interested in such a local breakout system, Chua said, include manufacturing and industrial, healthcare, logistics & warehousing, retail, smart venues/entertainment (stadiums, theme parks), energy & utilities, and transportation. “These are the same candidates that have benefited from private 4G LTE/5G systems,” he said.
Chinese breakout
“With Edge Control, T-Mobile is looking to leverage their superior spectrum holdings and programmatic controls in their 5G/5G Advanced network to provide a 5G non-private networks (NPN) that's more like a public network integrated version (PNI-NPN) versus a standalone (SNPN) network that is completely isolated from the public network," Chua added. "This approach is like the majority of private wireless networks in China where the carrier manages the private networks for the enterprises.”
"Why compare to China?" asked Dell'Oro Group's Dave Bolan in a blog. "Well, Chinese MNOs have been using a similar network architecture since launching their 5G Standalone (SA) networks in 2020. By the end of 2024 the MNOs in China had implemented 55,000 MNO-provided Private Networks. Based on their success in China, we expect T-Mobile will achieve proportional success in the U.S. market."