Private mobile networks have long been a niche option for a small minority of enterprises that need connectivity for day-to-day operations at scale across large, often remote service areas. The economics of operating a cellular infrastructure in-house rather than paying subscription fees to a communication service provider (CSP) have traditionally not been favorable in most cases. Government agencies and large sites such as industrial facilities and petroleum fields have been the main exceptions. Typical cases have included areas where commercial cellular coverage is lacking, as well as disaster response where ad hoc communication services need to be set up quickly.
As 5G and 5G NR technologies gain ground in the marketplace, it is becoming more economically feasible from a capital expense point of view for mainstream organizations to instantiate private mobile networks. In addition to replacing subscription mobile services from a CSP, private 5G can also offer substantial benefits as a general-purpose enterprise network that partially or completely replaces Wi-Fi and wired Ethernet. Using a 5G network offers security advantages, for example, as well as reliability and low latency for mission-critical and safety-critical applications, particularly those that rely extensively on machine-to-machine communications.
Private networks are essentially scaled-down versions of public mobile networks, operating under the same 3GPP protocols and standards. In use cases that range from first responders to commercial call centers, recording all voice calls is a common requirement. Conventional recording solutions are often unable to operate at the scale needed or to integrate properly with 4G or 5G core infrastructure. Depending on the jurisdiction and the nature of the organization, operators may also be subject to regulatory requirements for lawful interception on their networks.
Value Propositions for Private Mobile Networks
Organizations that deploy lawful and location intelligence on private mobile networks have significant opportunities to unlock business value, beyond their core requirements. The potential ranges from improving operations to monetizing real-time and historical location information. SS8 draws on more than two decades of industry leadership to help organizations realize those benefits while meeting their regulatory responsibilities and business requirements. Some additional common usages include the following:
- Monitoring personnel and devices. Handset location information can track employees’ position and speed of movement to verify their presence on site and safe driving behavior, while usage records can be used to investigate whether they are using issued devices appropriately.
- Coordinating emergency response. In situations such as civil unrest or natural disasters, private networks can not only ensure uninterrupted communications but also monitor and direct the locations of responders to improve situation command and control.
- Machine-to-machine communications. The growing prevalence of enterprise communications that do not involve humans—such as with the internet of things and drones—create novel needs for monitoring, forensics, and auditing that can be facilitated by lawful intelligence platforms.
- Expanded push-to-talk deployments. Mission-critical push-to-talk voice communications have been a longstanding fixture in many private networks. Additional services on those networks to support emerging business needs can increase their extent and traffic volumes substantially, adding complexity to monitoring and mediation.
Streamlining the Expense of Lawful Intelligence
In addition to unlocking the full business value of lawful intelligence in their networks, organizations must also find opportunities to reduce the expense of doing so. While implementing a constellation of minimal, low-cost point solutions may help reduce short-term investment, the robustness and extensibility of capabilities in the SS8 platform deliver superior long-term total cost of ownership. To help unlock that advantage, SS8 consults with customers to deliver cost-effective, end-to-end solutions that draw on our extensive experience and best practices.
Maintaining monitoring centers and infrastructure is a significant expense that is the financial responsibility of network operators in many jurisdictions. As growing numbers of private networks are deployed in overlapping geographies, each one building its own monitoring facility becomes increasingly inefficient. SS8 works with customers to establish shared monitoring centers that reduce costs for all concerned. That model is inherently future-focused, adding value as new networks join the shared operations.
The end-to-end SS8 platform also delivers cost benefits through its comprehensiveness. Rather than integrating a new point solution when functionality needs to be added, modular features and capabilities are available that were built specifically to work in the existing environment, securely and effectively. This includes robust, specialized capabilities for lawful intelligence such as purpose-built data retention, traffic buffering services, and warrant management. In addition, unparalleled analytics capabilities such as recursive identity lookup, data fusion, and built-in data engineering lower barriers to adoption for new business models that help reduce costs and enable new revenue opportunities.
About Rory Quann
Rory Quann is a Senior Solutions Engineer specializing in End-to-End Government Solutions at SS8 Networks and brings with him over 14 years of experience in the Lawful Interception and Data Analysis industry. Prior to joining SS8 in 2013, Rory worked for BAE System Applied Intelligence where he was focused on large scale Government deployments of Intelligence Solutions. Rory has held multiple positions in the Lawful Intelligence space ranging from Deployment Engineer, System Consultant, and Sales Engineer focusing on Country-wide Passive deployments. Rory is a Certified Microsoft MCSA Engineer and EMC Certified deployment Engineer. You can learn more about Rory on his LinkedIn profile by clicking here.
About SS8 Networks
As a leader in Lawful and Location Intelligence, SS8 helps make societies safer. Our commitment is to extract, analyze, and visualize the critical intelligence that gives law enforcement, intelligence agencies, and emergency services the real-time insights that help save lives. Our high performance, flexible, and future-proof solutions also enable mobile network operators to achieve regulatory compliance with minimum disruption, time, and cost. SS8 is trusted by the largest government agencies, communications providers, and systems integrators globally.
Intellego® XT monitoring and data analytics portfolio is optimized for Law Enforcement Agencies to capture, analyze, and visualize complex data sets for real-time investigative intelligence.
LocationWise delivers the highest audited network location accuracy worldwide, providing active and passive location intelligence for emergency services, law enforcement, and mobile network operators.
Xcipio® mediation platform meets the demands of lawful intercept in any network type and provides the ability to transcode (convert) between lawful intercept handover versions and standard families.
To learn more, contact us at info@ss8.com.
