Forging the Future with Industry Verticals
It’s no secret that the full potential of 5G has not yet been realized when it comes to providing benefits to vertical industries. With 6G standardization about to begin and with the continuing deployments of 5G standalone networks, it is a critical time to ask the question on how telecom and verticals can work better together to create value in the roadmap ahead for the vertical industries. With this in mind, ATIS’ Next G Alliance (NGA) hosted a workshop on cellular connectivity for Vertical Industries from February 25–26, 2025, at the ATIS headquarters in Washington, D.C. The event aimed to:
- Gain a deeper understanding of vertical industry communication needs and the value mobile technology can provide [6G Roadmap for Vertical Industries – Next G Alliance].
- Identify key barriers to the adoption and integration of mobile technology in vertical industries.
- Establish a framework for ongoing collaboration to address challenges and optimize the benefits of mobile technology, fostering cooperation with selected vertical industries.
This initiative was led by the NGA National Roadmap Working Group, with a focus on three key verticals: (i) agriculture, (ii) public safety, and (iii) utilities. The workshop focused on identifying the business needs and challenges of each industry and understanding current and future technology requirements, through presentations, panel discussions, and vertical-specific breakout working sessions. The first day centered on the value proposition of mobile connectivity, while the second day explored technological solutions for verticals [https://nextgalliance.org/nga_event/verticals-workshop/].
The event brought 35 in-person participants together across NGA members and key industry stakeholders, including:
- Agriculture: AG Gateway, Purdue University, Iowa State University, and TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods
- Public Safety: NIST, Texas A&M University, APCO, NENA, and Cradlepoint
- Utilities: Utilities Technology Council (UTC), Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), Itron, and Anterix
The active discussion among participants uncovered many take-aways points. The group also developed potential next steps that NGA could pursue and encourage other industry groups to consider.
Agriculture
Discussions with members of the agricultural industry uncovered a broad range of use cases that need to work around a large coverage area. Primarily the following two use case categories came into focus:
- Sensor Data – Focused on soil, environmental, and water monitoring, requiring latency-tolerant, low-data-rate solutions for many hundreds or thousands of sensors per acre.
- Autonomy — Requires lower latency and higher data rates for autonomous machinery.
The key challenge in agriculture is coverage: many farms have inconsistent or no coverage from public mobile networks whatsoever; some feedlots and dairies may have sufficient outdoor coverage from mobile networks, but due to facilities primarily using concrete and steel as building materials, indoor coverage is limited at best. Additional challenges include cost and complexity to deploy private networks and the lack of affordability and availability of the appropriate device ecosystem to support operations where coverage is not an issue. To address these challenges, proposed technology enablers include large-scale sensors, ambient IoT devices, cost-effective macro cell deployments, and NTN solutions for mobile and portable private networks.
Public Safety
The public safety proponents discussed a range of opportunities from migration of legacy systems to opportunities for future 6G use cases. These use cases included next-generation 911 services with video calling, edge computing, Proximity Services (ProSe) D2D communication, in-vehicle connectivity, mission-critical communications, and network slicing for public safety. Slow time-to-market on new technology developments was highlighted as an adoption barrier — one presenter noted that they had just recently received prototype devices with 3GPP-compliant ProSe D2D capabilities, although the technology was first standardized in 3GPP Release 12, which was completed in 2015.
The most critical requirements for public safety are reliable connectivity, followed by uniform coverage, support of off-network communications (device-to-device), consistent speeds with bounded latency, and secure access to safeguard mission-critical operations. Looking ahead to 6G, advancements will focus on distributed sensing, precise positioning, TN/NTN integration for expanded coverage, enhanced bandwidth and reduced latency, AI-driven capabilities, and security by design. Additionally, public safety devices must be ruggedized, energy-efficient, user-friendly, and intrinsically safe for extreme environments.
Utilities
Utilities face an increasing number of challenges where wireless telecom networks can play a role: increasing demands with increased electricity and water consumption, cybersecurity threats, supply chain disruptions, and the need for resilient infrastructure to withstand natural disasters.
Investment in this sector is primarily regulator-driven and based on guaranteed rate of return, rather than based on Average Revenue Per User (ARPU). Utilities generally operate all wireless communication networks in-house, using their own dedicated spectrum assets, to ensure they can meet the reliability and availability requirements demanded of them by regulators and the public. This creates unique challenges in adopting 4G and 5G technology primarily geared toward operation of public mobile networks due to lack of support of utility spectrum and lack of utility-specific terminal devices.
Key applications in this sector include smart metering, protective relaying, and distributed automation, with LTE Cat-M emerging as the preferred technology for utility products due to its optimal balance of throughput, battery life, and cost. However, as utilities plan to move toward Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) 2.0, there will be an increase in metering data—in terms of both quantity and frequency—that will need to be sent back to the utility, as well new goals for local communication with neighboring meters and smart appliances, which are anticipated to exceed the capabilities of existing LTE Cat-M solutions. As such 6G Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) could meet these requirements as the industry transitions to AMI 2.0, with most success likely to be attained if 6G LPWA capabilities are available both in the standard and in products on ‘Day-1’ of 6G, given that the utilities industry demands a 20+ year lifecycle for infrastructure.
During the breakout session, participants emphasized the need for education and advocacy to foster stronger alignment among regulators (FCC, FERC, PUC), utilities, and chipset/infrastructure/device vendors.
Common Themes
Several common themes appeared throughout the workshop:
- Connectivity & Coverage – While cited for different reasons, all three verticals noted that coverage from today’s public mobile wireless networks are not sufficient to meet all of their needs. Private networks, D2D communications, portable or vehicle-mounted networks, and satellite/NTN connectivity were all highlighted as possible solutions.
- Density – All three verticals highlighted use cases where high device density capabilities would be necessary. Massive IoT sensor networks for agriculture, advanced smart metering for utilities, and incident site communications (especially where sensor networks may be used) for public safety.
- Expertise & Awareness – Expertise on 3GPP-based technology in the verticals is limited and creates a barrier to adoption. However, it was also discussed that this is in-part a complexity issue as most wireless telecom solutions today are engineered with large mobile network operators in mind, whereas complete networks for verticals necessitate more simplified setup and operation, depending on the needs of each vertical. It was clear that increasing awareness of both the needs of the verticals amongst the telecom industry and the capabilities of the telecom industry amongst verticals is needed.
- Device Availability – Most 4G and 5G devices available on the market today are smartphones or tablet devices geared toward consumers. Very few (if any) devices in the current ecosystem meet the needs of the vertical industries, such as ruggedization, ability to use devices while wearing gloves, and integration into systems such as power control or tractor operation. Similarly, it was noted that there is a challenge in getting 3GPP-based chipsets into the supply chains of each industry, as the suppliers of communications devices for agriculture, public safety, and utilities in North America have little overlap with the existing mobile device supply chain.
Next Steps
The cellular industry, primarily driven by Communication Service Providers (CSPs), is currently focused on enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) and, to some extent, Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). Leaders should strengthen engagement with key vertical industries and develop a strategic action plan to promote 3GPP-based wireless technology adoption to establish a thriving 6G marketplace and unleash economic growth in both the wireless industry and the vertical industries we serve in North America.
It is imperative to determine how the vertical needs of Day-1 can be considered in 6G in an appropriate manner, as such further work should be considered:
- Enhancing advocacy and education efforts by fostering collaboration between NGA, regulators, CSPs, and chipset/infrastructure/device suppliers.
- Researching connectivity and coverage enhancements tailored to vertical industry requirements.
- Assessing end-user device needs across various verticals to inform future developments.
- Assessing requirements across verticals industries to distinguish between vertical-specific and common requirements
Executing these initiatives can drive cross-industry adoption, maximize economic value, and position North America as a leader in 6G innovation.
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