The market for non-public networks is growing rapidly.
Originally strictly separated from public networks, roaming between NPNs and PLMNs will become increasingly important – and could drive significant revenue growth.
So, how can you benefit from this opportunity while also managing a new level of complexity in the IR documents you have to maintain?
As we know, reviewing and implementing changes demanded by IR.21 and IR.85 amendments requires significant resources and time. At the same time, when performed manually, this process can be prone to human error and mistakes – resulting in service degradation and disruption. Automating this process is imperative.
But the situation is becoming increasingly complex. That’s because IR documents are required for all roaming partners – and the landscape has changed. It’s no longer just inter-MNO agreements that are required, but also agreements between operators of private networks (NPNs) and MNOs.
NPNs as a new roaming opportunity
Private networks are not a novel idea – they’ve been around for a while, but the advent of 5G really brought them into focus. This is due to the flexibility of 5G and the ability to manipulate service conditions and to optimise them for very different performance demands.
So, while there are many NPNs based on LTE technology, and rail network operators and utility providers, for example, have deployed and run their private networks for decades, 5G brought about considerable interest in the topic from different industrial, public and military stakeholders.
The common theme? The ability to meet very specific performance goals wirelessly – reducing costs of installing complex wired infrastructure for device management.
For example, delivering outside broadcast from a given location for a short period of time, running autonomous agricultural operations, or remotely operating tower cranes from the ground. There’s a host of activities that have demanding performance needs and complex operational requirements that can benefit from NPNs.
But while these were almost exclusively seen as being isolated from public networks, it’s now clear that roaming offers additional benefits. For example, when devices move from one domain to another (perhaps from a port with a secure private network to a country-wide PLMN or when autonomous vehicles move from an isolated network into the public domain). 3GPP has planned for this by supporting standardised roaming models and creating guidelines for security and interoperability.
No wonder, then, that the interest in NPNs in general has begun to translate into serious revenue opportunities. According to Juniper Research, global revenue for NPNs will grow from $5.5 billion in 2025 to $21.4 billion by 2030 – an increase of 283%. It marks a significant opportunity for operators, and a pivotal shift in the market as more enterprises invest in private networks. The study goes on to forecast that (between 4GLTE and 5G) nearly 3,000 new private networks will be deployed over the next two years – that compares to 2,500 over the last four years.
But while NPN and PLMN roaming must now be seen as inevitable, this also (inevitably) brings challenges. NPNs are typically optimised for different performance criteria from PLMNs – which means that roaming agreements between the two may be much more complex than those between classical public networks.
Specific QoS conditions, slice management in PLMNs to mirror NPN performance goals, public safety demands and more all mean that MNOs will have much more to consider when building partnerships with NPN providers.
As a result, the IR documents that govern these new kinds of roaming relationships will be more complicated – and there will be many more things to go wrong if the conditions and parameters expected are not implemented correctly in the operational systems of the MNO hosting roaming devices and connections from the private domain.
Another important recognition is that SLAs will also be more likely between NPN operators and MNOs – so while this represents a growth opportunity, there will also be penalties if MNOs cannot deliver to fixed expectations.
In this environment, manual implementation of IR agreements and changes to those in force is no longer tenable. Automation is no longer desirable; it’s now a necessity. If you can’t cope with this as an MNO, your rivals may take the opportunity and grow revenue at your expense.
CORTEX Evolved Roaming can automate execution of IR agreements – and all subsequent changes
Fortunately, there is a solution that will transform how you adapt to this changing environment and enable you to adapt and capitalise on new opportunities created by NPN and PLMN roaming and interworking: the We Are CORTEX Evolved Roaming solution.
This powerful platform has been designed to meet these challenges with ease, taking manual errors and significant time demands out of the equation. It means you can cater for demanding roaming agreements, support new QoS changes and support slicing and dynamic performance requirements expected by NPN partners.
With CORTEX Evolved Roaming, you can automate IR implementation and changes, so you can both differentiate as a roaming partner and grow roaming revenue from a new source of partners.
Our centralised automation platform can ingest IR.21 and IR.85 data in real time – direct from RAEX – and then orchestrate its delivery across all systems simultaneously.
It means that if our platform cannot resolve an issue immediately – perhaps because it has no previous precedent – it will autonomously escalate the problem to the relevant department and human operator, where the issue can be investigated and resolved.
CORTEX automation of IR.21 and IR.85 is self-managing and ensures that data changes are always accurately updated across all systems. It improves compliance, maximises roaming revenues and manages risk more effectively.
To find out more about how easy it is to move to fully automated RAEX updates and data orchestration with CORTEX, get in touch to discuss your requirements, or download our latest paper “Roaming automation: New Revenue, improved margins, and happier customers”.
