Private 5G networks help today’s modern universities get the secure, high-quality connectivity needed to grow and innovate. But building the fibre infrastructure to support a private network takes proper planning and management for a successful outcome.
With college enrollment declining 10% from fall 2012 to fall 2022, and pressure on universities to show prospective students their degrees will offer a good return on investment, many universities are looking at expanding their digital capabilities to address the expectations of students and faculty while increasing their competitive edge. A university’s digital environment delivers critical support to students and staff by enabling state-of-the-art programs and facilities. This includes everything from supporting cutting-edge scientific and medical research, to virtual health services, student safety kiosks, self-serve parking, food service and building maintenance, contactless payments, and of course wireless connectivity for a growing list of mobile devices across the campus. This list could go on and on.
Yet, modernising communications infrastructure in buildings that may have been built as far back as the 17th century can be a complex challenge for many university IT departments. As a result, forward-looking college campuses are looking to communications service providers for help implementing private 5G wireless networks to help meet their connectivity needs today and beyond.
5G Private Networks – The Path to the Future
Private networks are nothing new – many of today’s universities utilise some sort of dedicated WiFi or Ethernet network for their connectivity needs. But as more data-intensive applications and connected devices are brought onto campus, universities find themselves running into network bottlenecks and failed connections with their current infrastructure.
On the other hand, private 5G supports more mobile ‘endpoints’ along with more demanding use cases. This is accomplished by moving the computing of traffic and services from a centralised processing location to the edge – in other words, to the university campus. This reduces the delay of sending and receiving data with the centralised cloud that is located further away, bringing real-time performance to the front door of high-bandwidth applications. Localising that power helps to ensure the university gets seamless, reliable wireless coverage in every corner of the campus.
In addition, a private 5G network offers a host of other benefits to a university. For example, a private 5G network can deliver heightened security due to its private nature, limiting exposure to public interfaces. This helps to protect private information such as students’ personal data or the university’s intellectual property. Additionally, the university gains greater control and insight through data analysis. With greater visibility into how different spaces are utilised, the university IT gains better decision-making capabilities that can be used to enhance on-campus conditions.
Fibre is the Backbone of Robust Connectivity
A fibre infrastructure plays a critical role in supporting a private 5G network. While most people think of 5G and its wireless capabilities, it’s often the wired infrastructure that determines how well the network performs. Where 5G utilises small cells placed in several locations to boost the mobile network coverage across a specific area, fibre provides the backhaul capacity to power those small cells. The high bandwidth and low latency features that 5G boasts are only possible with a strong fibre underlay that can transfer the data effectively.
But network buildouts can be expensive, usually an operator’s most considerable expense, with fibre installation costs running anywhere from $44,000 to $55,000 per mile[1]. So, getting it right the first time is essential – and using the right tools can help avoid costly and time-consuming mistakes in a variety of ways.
Fibre and Network Planning, Design, and Maintenance are Essential
Planning tools are used to design today’s highly complex fibre-to-anywhere telecom networks. These tools optimise the fibre buildout by creating the least cost routes with the highest revenue potential [1], but they also help reduce errors during the buildout and significantly improve network operations.
Network inventory tools are also essential for a new buildout. They provide an accurate view of the assets and equipment on hand, what is required for that buildout, and how they should be provisioned. Having a good handle on available inventory helps keep costs under control and reduces the downtime when planning and designing for these purpose-built networks.
Selecting the Right Tools
As universities and operators transform their operations for private 5G networks, proper planning, designing, and management of the fibre buildout must be a top priority. To better serve their university clients, service providers should look for fibre planning tools that include the following capabilities:
- Geospatial-enabled mapping
- Critical and accurate data for field teams
- On-site tools to complete the job quickly
- Functionality to manage, design and assign physical and logical network inventory
- Ability to dynamically correlate network resource inventory data across all network layers
- Auto-discovery and reconciliation to synchronise planned network resources
The Enghouse Network Resource Management suite includes Network Inventory Management for automated network resource planning and management of network resources. In addition, the suite comprises GIS Network Planning and Management, which enables service providers to build out their next-gen fibre networks with greater confidence while reducing the time, complexity, and errors that can lead to out-of-control costs.
To learn how Enghouse Networks helps operators deliver the connectivity universities demand while controlling costs, minimising delays, and maximising their ROI, contact us and we’ll connect you with one of our fibre network build-out experts.
