- More than 50 neutral host installations have taken place in the U.S
- SNS Telecom & IT said that the growth has been spurred by shared CBRS spectrum
- The analyst firm said that other counties - such as Japan - are also interested in neutral host deployments using unlicensed spectrum
By 2030, private networks could account for as much as a fifth of all mobile network infrastructure spending, a new report from SNS Telecom & IT finds. More of that spending in the United States is currently going towards shared spectrum neutral host private networking than ever, an SNS analyst told us.
Neutral host private networking, which allows users to connect to multiple carriers rather than just being tied to one operator, is growing in popularity in the United States. Asad Khan, research director of 5G & Wireless at SNS Telecom & IT told Fierce that in its latest private 4G/5G ecosystem report there has been a surge in using neutral host private networking to replace traditional distributed antenna systems (DAS), especially in the U.S.
“At present, there are just over 100 neutral host private network installations – both commercial deployments and PoC (Proof-of-Concepts) – with more than half of these in the United States,” said Khan. “We estimate that by the end of 2027, one-fifth of all RAN node installations in public venues and carpeted enterprise environments will be based on private wireless small cells supporting neutral host connectivity.”
This is largely because of the advent of 3.5 GHz Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS), which is shared spectrum available for private networking in the U.S. This trend is due to the open accessibility of the license-exempt General Authorized Access (GAA) tier of 3.5 GHz CBRS spectrum.
Some examples of private network deployments supporting neutral host connectivity to one or more national mobile operators include Meta's corporate offices, Stanford Health Care, Sound Hotel, Gale South Beach Hotel, Nobu Hotel, Arizona State University, California Polytechnic State University and the University of Virginia.
Traditionally, we would have expected mainland Europe and the United Kingdom to be ahead in the multiple-carrier supporting private network stakes because these regions are more accustomed to using neutral hosts for DAS. It seems, however, that the U.S. may be pulling ahead on neutral host. In addition to the availability of CBRS spectrum for private networks, Ericsson’s new “DAS killer” neutral host hardware is launching first in the U.S.
SNS’s Khan noted that neutral host coverage systems have been implemented as part of private network deployments in a limited number of industrial facilities, including those of Cummins, Toyota Material Handling and Tesla. All of these deployments use Ericsson gear for their private neutral host systems.
This doesn’t mean that other countries, however, will just ignore the use of shared and unlicensed spectrum for private networking. “We expect to see more activity in other national markets in the coming months,” Khan said. “For example, in Japan, private cellular integrators are actively negotiating with the country’s mobile operators to deploy neutral host small cells in unlicensed 1.9 GHz sXGP spectrum.”
Industrial neutral host setups are expected to be less prevalent than carpeted enterprise or public arena neutral host private networking deployments. “In industrial settings, the share is expected to be lower at around 10% of the market,” Khan concluded.