1. What Is Private 5G?
Cellphone wireless beats standard enterprise Wi-Fi in many ways: much higher device density, many fewer “access points,” lower latency, better roaming, deterministic performance and bandwidth slicing. New standards and spectrum allocations give enterprises access to private bandwidth, an opportunity to run what is essentially a private cellphone network (with all the advantages of 5G) in a particular geographic area.
2. Why Would Healthcare Use 5G?
Healthcare environments are harsh ones for wireless networking. The Internet of Things is driving up device densities. Building construction materials and medical device interference offer a challenging radio-frequency environment. Patient-facing services such as procedures that use augmented reality, real-time monitoring and remote surgery require ultrareliable, low-latency connectivity. Private 5G outperforms Wi-Fi on latency, congestion, mobility, device density and quality-of-service guarantees. That’s a technology sweet spot for healthcare.
READ MORE: How is 5G powering healthcare’s next digital transformation?
3. How Does Security Change Going From Wi-Fi To Private 5G?
Healthcare IT teams pushing forward with zero-trust architectures won’t see much difference with 5G. Mutual authentication between client and radio tower is the big win: 5G devices have built-in SIM/eSIM identifiers, making IoT security much stronger and more manageable, which means no more “hidden” service set identifiers; shared, long-lived passwords; or per-device management. Existing handsets with digital certificates under an enterprise mobility manager, such as Microsoft Intune or Omnissa (formerly VMware) Workspace ONE, have similar security on Wi-Fi or 5G.
4. Where Does the Spectrum Come From?
In the U.S., spectrum is allocated by the Federal Communications Commission. Quality spectrum is key to 5G, and that can be costly. Large hospital complexes can bid for their own dedicated bandwidth or lease from a carrier in the area, which is also expensive but not out of the question. However, IT teams can start with General Authorized Access, a free 80-megahertz slice of low-congestion bandwidth that requires only registration with the FCC. GAA is not as good as dedicated midband 5G spectrum, but it’s a low-cost starting point that can be upgraded later.
5. What Do I Need To Start With Private 5G?
A pilot requires an equipment budget of $50,000 or less. Hospitals with an existing Microsoft relationship can start quickly with Azure Private 5G Core (authentication, routing and bandwidth slicing), coupled with existing firewalls and network gear. A few small cells and some SIMs or eSIMs, and you’re ready to see if private 5G is right for your organization.
