Abstract
Private 5G networks, or non-public networks (NPNs), are emerging as critical enablers of industrial and enterprise digitalization, delivering enhanced security, performance, and control. Public 5G networks, by contrast, offer wide-area coverage and global mobility. Seamless integration of these two domains is essential to fully realize the benefits of 5G. Interworking enables enterprises to maintain secure, high-performance local services through private 5G while leveraging public 5G for ubiquitous coverage for those local services and public services such as voice and emergency calls. However, baseline architectural approaches often avoid interworking in fear of potential compromise of key advantages of private networks, including isolation and strict enterprise control. This article introduces and evaluates architectural blueprints that enable interworking without sacrificing the defining characteristics of either network type. The proposed designs systematically combine existing 3GPP-defined mechanisms into deployable end-to-end architectures tailored for practical private–public 5G interworking scenarios. We further provide a KPI-driven comparative evaluation that highlights deployment trade-offs and operational considerations not captured in standardized specifications. Finally, we outline future research directions to guide academia and industry toward practical, flexible solutions that effectively bridge private and public 5G networks.