资源描述
Networks and Services Network Equipment Vendors Role in 5G Vertical Industry Market 04 August 2021 Report Snapshot A consensus has developed among leading telecom players that the B2B market is a major growth opportunity of 5G. We expect to see leading vendors become more active in developing the 5G B2B business. They have an opportunity to evolve their role to take more responsibility and add increased value in the 5G B2B ecosystem. Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 2 Contents 1. Executive Summary .4 2. Global Operators See 5G Vertical Industry Market as a Growth Opportunity .4 2.1 Need for operators to expand into business markets . 5 2.1.1 Campus Networks, Airport Hubs and Factory Sites . 6 2.1.2 5G Standalone (SA) is coming soon . 7 3. Telecom Industry Needs to Evolve to Serve Vertical Industries .7 3.1 Understand vertical industrial requirements . 7 3.2 Become integrated into industrial solution . 8 3.3 Achieve economies of scale . 8 4. Network Equipment Vendors Evolution for Vertical Market .9 4.1 Broader and more flexible product portfolio . 10 4.2 Bridging connectivity technology and industrial solutions . 11 4.2.1 Pre-Integration Process for Ecosystem Partners . 12 4.3 Connecting hardware infrastructure and application ecosystem . 13 4.3.1 Important Role for Industry Organizations and Partner Programs . 13 4.3.2 Significant Cost Savings from Pre-integrated partner solutions . 14 5. Factors that Accelerate Vendor Evolution . 14 5.1 Growing 5G industrial market . 15 5.2 Mature local hardware ecosystem . 15 5.3 Deep collaboration with Cloud Software and Hyperscalers . 16 5.3.1 Role of Cloud Hyperscalers especially for Edge Services . 16 6. Summary and Outlook . 17 Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 3 7. Analyst Contacts . 19 7.1 Other Contacts: . 19 Table of Exhibits Exhibit 1: Rate of 3G, 4G, and 5G Network Taking-off . 5 Exhibit 2: China Mobiles R and the D-15 co-creation and innovation center in Silicon Valley. But most of these initiatives still focus on the demonstration use cases to showcase 5G capabilities. It is the time for leading vendors to go further to accelerate the integration of 5G connectivity for robust industrial solutions. Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 13 4.3 Connecting hardware infrastructure and application ecosystem The collaboration between network equipment vendors and industrial software application providers is also critically important to accelerate time-to-market and manage deployment costs. China Unicoms case discussed above shows the necessity. In the smart factory case, the application software was originally designed to transmit high-resolution Virtual Reality (VR) streaming to 4 VR devices simultaneously. This led to a peak throughput of up to 1.1 Gbps over the 5G network, which exceeded the maximum downlink throughput of the network and made the network unstable. If the network solution and the software applications can be integrated and tested before deployment, it will save much time and work effort for the system debug in the field. The earlier the connectivity provider and industrial software developer work together the better; and the more deeply they can understand each other the more smoothly the 5G industrial solution can be deployed. Systematic planning is important in working with an enterprise - especially an enterprise with complex production processes and IT systems - to build a sustainable business model and long-term development strategy as the enterprise deploys the 5G industrial solution. For example, Shenzhen Airport pointed that the detailed planning plays a key role in the successful deployment of the 5G industrial network in the 3rd busiest airport in China. The tight collaboration of the suppliers of hardware infrastructure and software application systems as part of a joint system planning, allows the industrial customer a holistic view of how the new 5G industrial solution will deliver results that meet its business objectives. 4.3.1 Important Role for Industry Organizations and Partner Programs Going forward 5G network equipment vendors will increasingly need to leverage industry organizations that support collaboration with the industrial hardware and software providers. For example, some leading players from Telecom and vertical industries have formed the 5G Deterministic Network Alliance. Huawei plays an active role in the alliance to contribute technical and industrial insights and leads the joint test and pre-integration activities. The industry alliance can Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 14 also become a sharing platform of experiences and resources for 5G B2B developments, e.g., supporting member companies to do effective feasibility studies and system planning. Vendors can also build the partner ecosystem by themselves. Ericsson set up its Industry 4.0 Partner Program with more than 60 partners from device and hardware, software and applications, and professional services. Partners in the ecosystem can benefit from Ericssons expertise and technology. Ericsson hopes to “reach existing and new customers with profitable, proven solutions” through helping partners leverage Ericsson products and services. 4.3.2 Significant Cost Savings from Pre-integrated partner solutions Service providers who demand open multi-vendor solutions have recently found out how costly it can be to test and integrate unique combinations of partners on a one-off basis for every solution. A vendor ecosystem of pre-tested pre-integrated partners can provide the flexibility service providers are seeking with the reliability and reduced risk they used to get from monolithic proprietary equipment. 5. Factors that Accelerate Vendor Evolution Network equipment vendors are therefore beginning to evolve their role beyond a supplier of network infrastructure equipment to build up an ecosystem of B2B solutions and cloud platforms to enable industrial applications. Over time as they support multiple B2B players, they can become an interchange hub platform for connecting co-operating communications service providers and diverse connectivity options with module suppliers as well as industrial device and hardware providers, and industrial software application providers. Over time, this will allow operators to play a pivotal role in providing a broader product portfolio that meets the diverse requirements of multiple industrial markets. Several factors should help vendors to accelerate this evolution. We describe some of these below. Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 15 5.1 Growing 5G industrial market In order to cope with the rising industrial demand, suppliers, vendor, Mobile Service Providers (MSPs) and industry customers all need to cooperate closely and explore the service scenarios more deeply than ever before. As vendors gain more first-hand experience and deeper understanding on industrial requirements, they can start to optimize their product portfolios and to expand their partnerships with industrial players. China and Germany are among the most active country markets for 5G industrial applications so far. All the tier-1 network equipment vendors have presence in these important markets and will benefit from the dynamic development of 5G industrial applications. The early 5G scale of Chinas market is far greater than others especially for 5G SA applications. Chinese vendors will continue to dominate their home market and that knowledge base will potentially provide additional advantages to their enterprise customers around the world. 5.2 Mature local hardware ecosystem The pre-integration of modules and industrial solutions and the necessary certifications prior to commercial deployment should reduce on-site work effort and accelerate the time-to-market. Because most of the module vendors are medium or small size companies, the large network equipment vendors are well positioned to take a leading role in promoting pre-integration and preparing the necessary test environment. Through these activities, the network equipment vendors and operators can build up a 5G industrial ecosystem around their network solutions that will improve both their own and their customers competitiveness in the 5G industrial market. To do the pre-integration, the network equipment vendor needs to gather a balanced portfolio of module vendors and industrial solution providers onto a common platform while offering interoperability with other best of breed solutions that carriers may demand. Strategy Analytics latest report IoT Module Vendor Market Share Update 2005 to 2019 indicates that five of top 10 IoT module vendors by volume in 2019 were Chinese vendors, who shipped over two thirds of IoT modules in the global market. Other Chinese vendors play important roles in Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 16 the industrial solution markets. For example, there are three Chinese manufacturers in the worlds top ten construction equipment manufacturers. Chinese telecom operators are also committed to the large-scale deployment of 5G enterprise services. As a result, in China, it is easier for network equipment vendors to assemble all the necessary players in the industry chain to do the pre- integration. 5.3 Deep collaboration with Cloud Software and Hyperscalers Standardization is an effective approach to extend the economic scale of 5G industrial applications, where the tier-1 network equipment vendors can play a leading role, because they have rich experience about standardization process. 5.3.1 Role of Cloud Hyperscalers especially for Edge Services Not only hardware equipment providers and software solution providers but also public cloud players need to be involved in the standardization process. One important area for cloud co-ordination is edge services. There is an emerging consensus that edge computing is a key component of the 5G industrial application ecosystem whether on premise, in the telco network or hosted on the hyperscaler cloud. Many industrial software applications need to be deployed on an edge computing platform in or close to the customers premises - often for performance or security reasons. Edge software applications need to be integrated into the industrial customers IT software framework that is deployed in a public cloud or hybrid cloud. Public cloud hyperscalers are moving aggressively to host pre-5G and 5G industrial applications. Deploying some hosted network functions on the public cloud as managed services - is also a way to lower up front network deployment cost, which is welcomed by some enterprise customers. Therefore, network equipment vendors need to strengthen their collaboration with IT software and cloud players as they expand their understanding of the cloud service ecosystem, enable the interworking and integration of edge computing platform and 5G network infrastructure, and even provide cloud-based 5G network solutions. Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 17 Collaboration with IT software and cloud players could help network equipment vendors to improve their influence in 5G B2B ecosystem. Recently Ericsson announced that it would begin enabling the sale of managed IoT connectivity by CSPs via Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace for enterprise developers. Some tier-2 and tier-3 vendors have already started providing cloud-based private 5G network solutions. Netmanias summarizes multiple partnerships of large public cloud players and in the last few months the telecom players and network equipment vendors have all increased their collaboration with cloud service players from both technology and business perspectives. Huawei is the only major network equipment vendor that has its own extensive IT software and operates its own public cloud business. Even though Huaweis public cloud business is a separate division, it can help Huawei gain deep insights about the cloud service ecosystem requirements and technologies; and enables Huawei to provide an integrated one-stop solution for both turnkey CSP managed services and their industrial customers. 6. Summary and Outlook The 5G B2B market is the hope of the telecom industry for both future growth and improved margins. Both operators and vendors need to evolve their roles to adapt their offers and processes to support the 5G B2B market. Network equipment vendors not only need to expand their platforms and software to meet specific requirements for B2B and industrial customers, but they also need to play an active role in creating the ecosystem. They have an opportunity to build the hub platform that connects communications service providers (CSPs) and diverse connectivity options with module suppliers, industrial device vendors, hardware providers, and industrial software applications. As the ecosystem evolves, it can create opportunities for vendors to achieve long-term growth in ways that will benefit the entire telecom industry value chain. Several key factors should help network equipment vendors to accelerate this evolution and improve their competitiveness in the 5G B2B market. These are: Presence in leading 5G B2B markets, such as China, Germany, Japan, etc., that could help vendors to gain the first hand experience of 5G B2B business. Networks and Services Strategy Analytics 2021 All Rights Reserved | 18 Partnership with module suppliers and industrial solution providers that can accelerate pre-integrated solutions and accelerate time-to-market for 5G industrial projects while enhancing the competitiveness of both the network equipment vendor and the module suppliers. Collaboration with software and cloud players can ensure that network equipment vendors enhance their influence with enterprise IT departments and Cloud Hyperscalers in the 5G B2B ecosystem especially through innovative edge solutions. We expect to see leading vendors become more active in developing the 5G B2B business. They have an opportunity to evolve their role to take more responsibility and add increased value in the 5G B2B ecosystem. This evolution will help telecom and vertical industries to roll out 5G applications as they accelerate the maturity of the 5G B2B ecosystem. Chinese vendors, and especially Huawei, are well positioned to lead the evolution process in the next 1-2 years. The huge and dynamic Chinese market offers a good opportunity for them to gain experience and insights for 5G B2B industrial applications. Because China has the largest manufacturing base of connectivity modules and extensive industrial requirements, it is in many ways an an ideal market for the pre-integration of many 5G modules and for networking and industrial E2E solutions. Huawei, thanks to its strong brand and large market influence in China, could lead this process. As the largest telecom equipment vendor
展开阅读全文