Telecom operators continue to lead the evolving private mobile network (PMN) space, with Gartner placing such titans like Verizon, Vodafone, Telefónica into the top-right square of its latest segment ranking, though vendor-based “challengers” seem to be the real market innovators.

Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant ranking of private mobile network service providers had those big-brand telecom providers huddled together in the lower-left section of the “leaders” quadrant, kept warm by other names like Deutsche Telekom, Orange Business, and NTT Data, that last of which managed to climb from its “visionaries” position in last year’s report.

That group’s standing was generally bolstered by their respective 5G and legacy 4G LTE network assets providing a solid base of market support. This was highlighted by Vodafone, which Gartner noted operated with a strength tied to the carrier’s ability to offer “hybrid private 4G and 5G services, using technologies like multi-operator core network to enable seamless device mobility between dedicated private networks and public networks.”

These operator-linked providers were also touted for providing equipment optionality that was deemed essential to many market verticals.

“Verizon covers enterprise segments by leveraging [radio access network] and packet core technology solutions from Celona, Ericsson, and Nokia,” Gartner noted as a strength for Verizon, as an example. “It addresses midsize to global enterprises as well as the public sector, leveraging all major OEMs: Ericsson, Nokia, and Celona.”

Ericsson, Nokia noted for execution, others have scale

More interesting was the quadrant’s “ability to execute” ranking of market “challengers” Nokia and Ericsson. Both of those vendors were labeled as far exceeding that vertical criteria than the labeled market leaders.

Gartner noted that Ericsson reported deployed sites that were “among the highest for the vendors included in this research,” though that data was gathered from “other credible sources” and not directly from the vendor. Gartner did add that “Ericsson remains a prominent choice for enterprises that frequently consider Ericsson during their [request for proposal] processes for PMN services.”

Manish Tiwari, head of enterprise 5G at Ericsson, recently explained to SDxCentral that the vendor has focused on providing a range of deployment models.

“We have been spending a lot of time over the last couple of years to make this possible, give the choice to the enterprise customer, not only in terms of where they buy the product from, but also in terms of how they want to manage it, and what kind of operational model makes sense for that customer,” Tiwari said.

Nokia, which just out ability to executed Ericsson, was linked to more than 1,500 PMN sites across seven regions, a number surpassed only by China-based vendor Huawei’s more than 10,000 reported sites. “Nokia’s operations are geographically diversified, serving enterprises and government entities across manufacturing, mining, ports, energy, and public safety,” Gartner noted of the vendor’s reach.

However, Gartner did highlight Nokia’s recent decision to reassess its private network business, which could impact ongoing direct support from the vendor.

Huawei’s depth in its home market bolstered that vendor’s position within the challengers box, a room that Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) also habituated backed by its self-reported more than 600 4G and 5G PMN deployments.

The only other box housing Gartner-deemed participants was the “niche players” quadrant that housed Ambra Solutions, Boldyn Networks, AsiaInfo Technologies, and Kyndryl. Though it should be noted that Kyndryl self-reported more deployed sites that market leader Telefónica.