Fortinet Polls Enterprises on Private 5G/LTE

Enterprise networks—from corporate, healthcare, and educational campuses to manufacturing and industrial facilities—increasingly build private 5G/LTE into their ecosystems. Private 5G/LTE offers reliable, widespread, and high-performance access. Yet many existing private 5G/LTE solutions are comprised of disjointed components that can be complex, insecure, and costly. In response, Fortinet is proud to offer the industry’s most unified and comprehensive secure Private 5G/LTE platform.

Private 5G/LTE Customer Insights

In a recent webinar, Fortinet offered five predictions about 5G/LTE in enterprise networks. A poll of attendees revealed critical insights into private 5G/LTE use cases, obstacles, and timelines in deployment.

When asked, “How are you using 5G/LTE today?” almost a third of respondents said they plan to use 5G/LTE and are exploring solutions, while 22.4% of attendees said they were not using 5G/LTE and had no plans to use it. Of the attendees leveraging 5G/LTE in the enterprise, 28.6% said they use 5G/LTE at the branch as a WAN connection, while 14.3% said they use private 5G/LTE, and 4.1% said they use 5G/LTE to connect fleet vehicles as a mobility solution.

The webinar also asked participants, “What prevents you from implementing 5G/LTE in your Enterprise Network?” Surprisingly, almost half of respondents (47.5%) said that “service availability” was the biggest obstacle preventing 5G/LTE adoption. 27.5% said there were no obstacles, and they had already implemented 5G/LTE. 17.5% of attendees mentioned the cost of 5G/LTE services as a prohibitor, while only 7.5% raised security as the most pressing concern.

Finally, we asked webinar participants, “Where are you in your private 5G/LTE journey?” 35.1% of respondents said they are either actively using private 5G/LTE or plan to implement it within one year. 32.4% plan to implement it within 3-5 years and another 32.4% have no plans.

These responses clearly show that for many organizations, private 5G/LTE is either actively being deployed or being evaluated for deployment within the next year. Service availability was the only significant deployment barrier identified, while costs and security concerns remained under control. Private 5G/LTE brings value to enterprises in manufacturing and industrial facilities, as well as corporate and educational campuses. This reinforces independent research estimates that private 5G/LTE is expected to grow up to 50% by 2030.

To address this growing demand, Fortinet is actively broadening our private 5G/LTE solution with a rich set of products, integrations, and partnerships to offer the industry’s most comprehensive and secure private 5G/LTE platform.

New Private 5G/LTE Integrations for Secure Enterprise Connectivity

Fortinet recently completed integration with key private 5G/LTE providers in the Fortinet Fabric-Ready technology alliance partner ecosystem to offer unique secure connectivity solutions for a variety of use cases.

One Layer

OneLayer brings complete cellular device discovery, management, and enterprise-grade security to IoT and other devices connected to a private LTE and 5G network. It allows any activity to be tracked and policies to secure the environment. Combined with Fortinet, this joint solution safeguards private cellular networks and IoT devices from threats that can compromise or distribute malicious malware. It also prevents lateral movement between networks as cellular networks are connected to IT/OT networks.

The Fortinet FortiGate Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) consolidates networking and security through a secure networking approach to deliver full visibility, the highest scalability, and advanced security to protect business-critical applications in a distributed, hybrid 5G ecosystem. A vital component of securing private 5G networks, FortiGate provides end-to-end 5G user plane security, secures 5G to multi-access edge computing (MEC) and external PDN connectivity, provides security segmentation in the MEC, and implements an OT security boundary within the 5G network.

Highway 9 Networks

Highway 9 Mobile Cloud simplifies and automates the deployment of private mobile networks for enterprise and campus environments. Its cloud-based deployment enables easier and faster rollout of private 5G/LTE by seamlessly integrating all required mobility components while significantly reducing complexity and errors. Its secure cloud-native format will enable the success of your carrier extension, always-on data access, and strategic AI/automation projects.

Through its integration with FortiExtender and FortiGate, Highway 9 Mobile Cloud delivers a complete private mobile networking solution. FortiExtender 5G/LTE gateways support broadband wireless WAN and can act as secure uplinks for the Highway 9 Mobile Cloud. FortiExtender gateways can be deployed at the network edge, in vehicles, or anywhere cellular connectivity is needed. Highway 9 Mobile Cloud is a cloud-native platform that provides the control plane, user plane, and management capabilities for the private 5G/LTE network and enables the creation of virtual mobile zones, seamless IT/OT integration, and AI-powered insights.

Comprehensive GSI Partnerships

In addition to direct integrations with Private 5G/LTE Fabric-Ready technology alliance partners, Fortinet partners with the most respected Global System Integrators (GSIs) to deliver comprehensive cybersecurity solutions and secure digital integrations to accelerate enterprise transformation, improve business outcomes, and enable better customer experiences. With the ability to scale across every industry, we work jointly with GSIs to provide strategic planning, managed service creation, and integrated security solutions to large enterprises. These solutions enable you to spend less time securing your environment and instead focus on growth and innovation. Our GSI partnerships in the private 5G/LTE space and beyond offer:

• Enterprise Innovation: A comprehensive approach to cybersecurity deployment and management that integrates with existing systems and investments delivers increased productivity, reduces downtime, and ensures superior business outcomes.
• Global Reach: Engaging with trusted GSI partners ensures consistent operations and management across regions, ensuring a comprehensive approach to implementing end-to-end joint solutions and services.
• Modern Architecture: Strategically extending your cybersecurity approach to any LAN, WAN, cloud environment, or edge accelerates your digital transformation journey while modernizing your enterprise.

Working together, Fortinet and our GSI partners deliver business outcomes that enable enterprises to build market share through supply chain innovation, reduced attack surfaces, and risk mitigation, all while enhancing shareholder and customer value.

Eviden

Eviden combines extensive digital transformation expertise, rich industry experience, and combined technological capabilities in cloud and edge computing for digital security, artificial intelligence, and IoT. Eviden works as a collaborative partner to guide, support, and accelerate enterprise customers’ digital journey, unlocking the value of 5G for their business.

Eviden and Fortinet have combined forces to provide security to 5G RAN, MEC, and core, delivering security to any enterprise, network, and edge at any scale. Both companies' portfolios provide value to public 5G, private 5G, and corporations that deploy 5G technologies for IT, OT, or IoT ecosystems. 

With Eviden 5Guard’s offering, organizations gain visibility and orchestrated security controls over 5G environments delivered through advanced protection capabilities and AI-led managed security services. 5Guard integrates with Fortinet's FortiGate and FortiWeb for facilitated network orchestration and security.

Conclusion

Today’s enterprises see value in deploying private 5G/LTE technology. Organizations of all kinds can rely on Fortinet to secure and connect private 5G/LTE networks, from the campus and industrial edge to virtual LAN zones, including parking-lot access and pop-up tents, kiosks, and mobile clients such as robotics and automated guided vehicles (AGVs). We’re proud to announce these industry-leading innovations and partnerships to help enterprises build the most comprehensive and secure private cellular solutions.

As an industry leader in secure connectivity solutions, including 5G/LTE, Fortinet offers the industry’s most comprehensive private 5G/LTE platform. This platform is supported by an expansive Fabric-Ready technology alliance partner ecosystem that includes over 700 integrations across 360+ Alliance partners. The integrations detailed in this blog provide enterprises with the secure access they need for high-performance and reliable private 5G/LTE networks. We are committed to continued innovation in this area, ensuring our leadership in the years ahead.

Read the OneLayer Joint Solution Brief
Read the OneLayer Deployment Guide
Read the Highway 9 Joint Solution Brief
See our Private 5G/LTE GSI Ecosystem