Celona and Palo Alto Networks are integrating their respective private network and security capabilities to provide enterprise customers with more visibility into devices connecting over their private 4G LTE and 5G cellular infrastructure.

The integration ties together Celona’s cloud-based Orchestrator administration platform and Palo Alto Networks' Cortex security orchestration automation and response (SOAR) platform, dubbed XSOAR. The combination provides real-time mapping of device identity information and IP addressing to support automated enforcement of zero-trust policies. It can also use open APIs to allow for the exchanging of client information between Celona’s Edge OS and Palo Alto Networks’ IoT platform.

The integration is available at no cost to current Palo Alto Networks and Celona customers. It’s targeted at enterprises that have deployed a private network that is tasked with connecting IoT devices. This includes logistics, refineries, manufacturing and transportation.

A recent report from GlobalData found manufacturing, mining, utilities and government verticals were driving the private network space, accounting for more than 51% of the $2.8 billion in segment revenues in 2022. GlobalData also said advanced devices that can take advantage of 5G-advanced capabilities will further drive the market beginning in 2025, with overall market revenues forecast to hit $7.9 billion in 2027.

Christopher Antlitz, principal analyst at Technology Business Research, noted during a recent webinar that transportation and logistics make up between 18% and 20% of current global private network deployments. This is just behind government and manufacturing verticals, which each account for more than 20%.

Celona last year updated its private wireless platform with 5G-specific updates that it targeted at market heavyweight Nokia. This included a new 5G access point that supports a deeper pool of spectrum resources, the vendor’s Converged Edge product, which provides core and control plane services, and a cloud-based orchestrator that supports remote installation of access points and the edge software.

Celona more recently launched a neutral-host private wireless platform that can integrate with public network providers, a capability backed by the platform already having gained certification to work with T-Mobile’s 4G LTE network.

Celona’s platform is now emboldened with a big player in the zero-trust network access (ZTNA) space. Forrester Research recently touted Palo Alto Networks as a leader in the market alongside Microsoft and Check Point Software Technologies.

ZTNA is becoming an increasingly important component of IoT and private network deployments. It provides secure access to applications and services based solely on user identity and context — even verifying users that are already inside the network.

ZTNA can also help improve the performance of IoT devices by reducing the amount of traffic that needs to be routed through the network core. This is because ZTNA allows enterprises to establish direct connections between IoT devices and the applications they need to access. This not only bolsters security, but also improves performance and reduces latency, which is especially important for time-sensitive IoT applications.

“ZTNA is the future of network security for 5G enterprise networks,” Michael Osterman, principal analyst at Osterman Research, told SDxCentral. “ZTNA provides a more secure and scalable way to access applications and data, and it is essential for protecting sensitive data from unauthorized access. As 5G networks become more widespread, ZTNA will become increasingly important.”