29 August 2024

When we talk about critical communications, it’s usually the public sector that we have in mind. However, the UK’s profit-making enterprises, too, rely upon always-on, high quality communications services, lest they face severe consequences…

Recent news (see page 1) has perfectly exampled just how much can go wrong from a single error in the network. The July Crowdstrike outage hit public sector and commercial enterprises alike and has been dubbed ‘the biggest internet outage in history.’

“Every modern business relies on connectivity to function,” explains Andy Sawyer, manager system engineering, Cradlepoint, part of Ericsson. “For example, retailers use it to support point-of-sale devices, stock tracking and pop-up sites at events like festivals. Any disruption to this network can negatively impact these enterprises, leading to loss of sales, talent and more. Cradlepoint’s recent ‘State of Connectivity in Europe’ report found that 45% of UK firms experienced higher operational costs due to connectivity issues, 27% reported a loss of earnings, and 23% stated it caused their business reputational damage.”

“There are a significant number of risks that can emerge when communications are suddenly no longer available. However, the significance of their impact is directly tied to the activities in which the business is involved,” confirms Aaron Page, senior consultant, Actica Consulting. “This is best considered by broadly grouping organisations into having Mission Critical or Business Critical activities. Considering Business Critical activities, a loss of communication will inhibit, reduce or limit the company’s ability to operate efficiently, serve customers and generate revenue. For enterprises with Mission Critical activities, loss of communications could result in catastrophic consequences: loss of life, significant damage, substantial financial loss, etc.”

Cecilia Jordán, market development manager for Industry 4.0, Teltronic, adds that “beyond critical scenarios, the progressive implementation of Industry 4.0 and the increasing value of data for companies make communication networks play a fundamental role. Their interruption can affect production operations, inventory management, quality processes, and more. Automation and real-time analysis of various processes are a reality in many industries, and all of this requires the support of a solid and reliable communication network.”

Critical decisions

When it comes to critical communications, enterprises must ensure they have a reliable and resilient network.

“It is important to not rely on one technology. For example, cellular connectivity can often be used as a failover solution, meaning if the primary fibre network suffers interruption, the organisation can still function,” says Sawyer. “It is also important not to invest in technology that is being built on soon-to-be out-of-date technology. For example, copper lines are being decommissioned in the UK, meaning any connectivity infrastructure that relies on this must be changed again soon.”

“Companies must consider the reliability and robustness of the system, ensuring that it is capable of offering the required levels of availability and Quality of Service at all times,” asserts Jordán. “They should also consider the frequency bands, coverage capacity, and deployment and operation costs, as well as ease of use and maintenance. Another relevant aspect is scalability, so that it can adapt to future growth and needs.”

In ensuring continual critical communications, it is also becoming increasingly vital that firms can secure sensitive data.

“Combining 5G cellular connectivity with Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) principles, a crucial component of the Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) framework, offers a robust foundation for safeguarding a network,” opines Sawyer. “ZTNA, which assumes that anyone on the network may pose a security threat, constantly evaluates a user’s security posture during a session, in contrast to VPN’s one-time authentication for network access. Some companies may choose to utilise both ZTNA and VPN depending on the diversity of user needs. Furthermore, ZTNA policies can be tailored to each device, establishing security measures before any connectivity occurs and concealing public IPs and IoT resources from discovery, enhancing overall security.”

Moreover, “in an Industry 4.0 environment, two other absolutely crucial aspects emerge: on the one hand, the network must offer the highest guarantees of security and data protection, and on the other hand, the ability to integrate with other AI or Big Data systems,” adds Jordán.

We have the technology

Getting the right technology in place is crucial to ensuring reliable communications; however, given the rich variety in features available and organisation demands, this is easier said than done.

“Unfortunately, a one size fits all approach for commercial businesses does not align with their varying activities,” agrees Page. “For organisations which engage in Mission Critical activities, current narrowband radio solutions would typically provide a better alignment to their broad generalised needs of reliability, security, dedicated channels and instant communication – although this may change with the advent of Mission Critical Broadband. Alternatively, companies with Business Critical activities will likely be more focused on data capacity, coverage, cost and scalability, this would tend to align better with cellular solutions.”
The advantages of cellular networks are clear for industrial environments, where higher transmission rates, lower latencies, and more connected devices are advantageous. However, they require availability that commercial networks cannot guarantee.

“From our perspective, the cellular vs. radio dilemma has a very clear answer: it will depend on the users’ data transmission needs, and we believe that the key issue is private vs. public network,” shares Jordán. “Radio remains an excellent option for environments where voice is still a critical factor, and large volumes of data transmission are not required. TETRA is perfectly suitable for telemetry applications and SCADA systems, with the added advantage of covering large areas at a lower cost.”

“Radio services like TETRA offer reliable voice communications, but basic data services which can be restrictive for modern enterprises. For example, manufacturers using industrial IoT devices to create digital twins must be able to access this data in real time if they want to use it to its fullest effectiveness,” adds Sawyer. “TETRA networks are ill-suited for handling the large volumes of data this requires. Likewise, cellular networks are better suited for supporting multimedia content like high-quality video streaming. As such, for most modern enterprise use cases, cellular connectivity is the better choice as it allows them to embrace new technology to its fullest.”

According to Jordán, “companies should take note of the advantages offered by the private network concept (radio or cellular), which has proven to be the best way to guarantee communications even in emergency situations, something that can be crucial for maintaining operations in the business environment.”

Shifting to cellular

The future of critical communications is inevitably linked to 4G and 5G, which offer high speed, low latency, and greater control over the communication infrastructure. Their integration with AI applications will be fundamental for the automation of industrial environments, making operations more efficient and secure.

“IoT applied to industrial environments allows for more efficient communication between devices, improving automation and real-time data collection. All of this will foster a new concept of the Smart Factory, enabling better monitoring of all processes and flexible adaptation to manufacturing, logistics, and other needs,” says Jordán. “Furthermore, advanced cybersecurity will be a crucial aspect, as attack vectors are increasingly numerous and frequent. Cybersecurity has become mandatory and strategic to ensure the security, integrity, and availability of information.”

Meanwhile, Sawyer highlights network slicing as a ‘game changer’ for the UK’s enterprises: “as enterprises begin to make wider use of 5G network slicing, they’ll be able to cut the cords often synonymous with connectivity. Instead, they’ll leverage versatile cellular networks that greatly reduce implementation costs and maximise business resources.”

Page, too, agrees that network slicing, “which can provide dedicated customisable virtual networks offering enhanced capabilities to match an organisation’s specific use case (designing the trade-offs between; capacity, connectivity, reliability and low latency), will likely continue to enable growth in IoT, edge computing and AI as well as convergence in both information and operational technology, and will subsequently continue to add focus to the development of encryption and security protocols.”

Just as the UK’s public sector begins to move to cellular – the UK’s Emergency Services Network (ESN) will support fire and rescue, police and ambulance services via cellular technology – so too does the UK’s commercial sector, for all but the dirtiest and most dangerous missions.