- Verizon Business has completed a private 5G platform across the Thames Freeport economic corridor in the U.K.
- The deployment spans five sites, including DP World London Gateway, Ford Dagenham and the Port of Tilbury
- Each tenant runs on its own independent network core for data sovereignty
If you’re going to provide private 5G, you might as well go big. That’s what Verizon Business is doing in its private 5G implementation with Thames Freeport in the United Kingdom.
Verizon today announced the completion of its private 5G platform across the Thames Freeport economic corridor, which is part of a multiyear, multibillion dollar transformation project for the region.
The deployment spans five separate locations across the Thames Freeport district, which is big enough to house the U.K.’s largest deep-sea container port and logistics facility, as well as the largest automobile manufacturing site in London and the Port of Tilbury.
It’s one of the busiest maritime shipping hubs in the United Kingdom. Each tenant of the Thames Freeport deployment operates on an independent network core for complete data sovereignty. The spectrum is Band 77 (3.8-4.2 GHz), which is available for enterprises to use in the U.K.
Verizon and Thames set foundation
“The implementation at Thames Freeport is a perfect reference point for the versatility and scalability of private 5G across complex industrial sites: one commercial hub, five individual sites with unique needs, and a multitude of connected use cases,” said Robb Juliano, VP of 5G Acceleration at Verizon Business, in a statement. “Together with Thames Freeport, we’re creating a digital foundation for automation, physical AI, and future industrial growth to revitalize an entire economic region.”
Nokia’s Enterprise Campus Edge, which is in the process of being sold to Aurelius, is the exclusive hardware and software provider for the networks, which incorporate the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) platform and Nokia MX Industrial Edge (MXIE).
Here are some of the tenants using the platform:
- DP World London Gateway and DP World Logistics Park, the U.K.’s largest and most integrated deep-sea container port and logistics facility.
- Ford Dagenham, the largest manufacturing site in London that has produced more than 11 million automobiles and 50 million engines in its history.
- Port of Tilbury (two locations), the largest of the Thames ports, housing 135 supply chain companies, supporting all cargo types and serving as a logistics hub for construction, automotive and food and drink sectors.
Trials test applications
Technology providers have already come together to test and validate potential use cases for the networks, particularly in the areas of maintenance and efficiency, tracking and monitoring, and health, safety and security.
One of the trials involved the use of AI to spot damage to vehicles and trailers from images and video, so inspections no longer depend on a slow external process. In another trial, which is still in progress, a digital map of the container yard shows the full container inventory with location, age and planned movements, giving real-time visibility of containers that are moving or planned to move, including export cargo for specific vessels.
A second phase of trials will cover ports and logistics use cases. Among the potential applications: sensors retrofitted to critical plant and mobile equipment to spot early signs of failure and raise a work order before a breakdown.
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