In the age of Industry 4.0, stakeholders need holistic, long-term plans for territory and sitewide connectivity
August 27, 2020 – Boulder, Colo. – A new report from Guidehouse Insightsexamines why energy industry verticals should consider the long-term evolution (LTE) family of technologies, including NB-IoT, LTE Cat-M1, LTE Cat-1, and 4G and 5G LTE, for their strategic long-term connectivity needs.
Industry 4.0 is here, and energy industry participants—including utilities, oil & gas (O&G), and mining operations—must embrace a full range of digitization technologies to remain safe, efficient, reliable, and competitive as their operating environments transform. Ubiquitous, flexible, and future-proof communications networking will be foundational to this. Click to tweet: According to a new report from @WeAreGHInsights, a strategy built around the family of LTE wireless technologies, based on global standards, presents an effective solution poised to evolve as 5G technology matures.
“To date, most utilities, O&G, and mining companies have taken a scattershot approach, building ad hoc, application-centric networks to perform just a few tasks. They may be operating dozens of incompatible networks per site, with a mix of wired and wireless, public and private solutions performing disparate functions,” says Richelle Elberg, principal research analyst with Guidehouse Insights. “Looking ahead, a strategic, holistic, long-term plan should be created for full-territory and sitewide connectivity.”
To position for success, Guidehouse Insights recommends utilities partner with public carriers for infrastructure sharing, reduced costs, and revenue opportunities. They should trial LTE-based network applications with a carrier or in a pilot using shared spectrum, and then consider investment in private spectrum for the most secure, long-term approach. The report also recommends coordination among smaller entities to bring market influence and tailored offerings from carriers and infrastructure vendors.
The report, Wireless Networking and Energy: LTE Standards Set the Stage for the 5G Era, addresses why energy industry verticals should consider the LTE family of technologies for their strategic long-term connectivity needs. It describes each of the LTE-based networking protocols and how they will seamlessly evolve into the 5G framework. It also discusses the various ways LTE networking services can be bought or built and covers the options energy and utility vertical participants have for spectrum needs. It includes a comprehensive list of IoT use cases enabled by LTE protocols, including Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT), LTE Cat-M1, LTE Cat-1, and 4G and 5G LTE. An executive summary of the report is available for free download on the Guidehouse Insights website.
About Guidehouse Insights
Guidehouse Insights, the dedicated market intelligence arm of Guidehouse, provides research, data, and benchmarking services for today’s rapidly changing and highly regulated industries. Our insights are built on in-depth analysis of global clean technology markets. The team’s research methodology combines supply-side industry analysis, end-user primary research, and demand assessment, paired with a deep examination of technology trends, to provide a comprehensive view of emerging resilient infrastructure systems. Additional information about Guidehouse Insights can be found at www.guidehouseinsights.com.
About Guidehouse
Guidehouse is a leading global provider of consulting services to the public and commercial markets with broad capabilities in management, technology, and risk consulting. We help clients address their toughest challenges with a focus on markets and clients facing transformational change, technology-driven innovation and significant regulatory pressure. Across a range of advisory, consulting, outsourcing, and technology/analytics services, we help clients create scalable, innovative solutions that prepare them for future growth and success. Headquartered in Washington DC, the company has more than 7,000 professionals in more than 50 locations. Guidehouse is led by seasoned professionals with proven and diverse expertise in traditional and emerging technologies, markets and agenda-setting issues driving national and global economies. For more information, please visit: www.guidehouse.com.
