Verizon Business signs its first 5G private network agreement with the Port of Southampton

ABP.
(Image credit: ABP.)

Verizon Business is staking its claim for a slice of the Industry 4.0 market in the UK, with the announcement today that it will be working with Associated British Ports (ABP) to deploy private 5G at the Port of Southampton

The project will be delivered in partnership with Nokia, and Verizon’s private 5G platform for one of the UK’s busiest ports will provide a new 5G case study for ABP, which operates a network of 21 ports around the UK (including the Port of Southampton). 

"Along with Nokia, we have been able to equip ABP to take advantage of the immediate benefits private 5G offers."

Tami Erwin, Verizon Business.

“Verizon’s private 5G is the foundation for a completely dedicated edge compute infrastructure, enabling ultra-low latency at the premise, higher levels of security and deeper customization for our partners,” said Tami Erwin, CEO at Verizon Business. “Businesses such as ABP are coming under more pressure to evolve their services at tremendous speeds in order to take advantage of new commercial opportunities. Along with Nokia, we have been able to equip ABP to take advantage of the immediate benefits private 5G offers, and most importantly prepare the Port of Southampton to take full advantage of new technology applications and real-time analytics which will digitally transform its services in the future.”

First UK port with a private 5G network

The Port of Southampton is the UK’s number one port for cars and cruise, handling approximately 900,000 cars, and it will become the first UK mainland port with a private 5G network.

“Building flexible and resilient technology platforms to meet our customers’ needs is a key element of our strategy, and becoming the first mainland port operator in the UK to offer a private 5G network to our customers is a fantastic milestone for ABP,” said Henrik L. Pedersen, ABP CEO. “We would like to thank our partners for enabling this project, which will equip our Port in Southampton with the state-of-the-art infrastructure needed to be at the forefront of the digital revolution in the maritime industry.”

The new network from Verizon 5G will be based on Nokia Digital Automation Cloud, an application platform providing high-bandwidth, low-latency, hyper-fast private wireless connectivity and local edge computing.

“The 5G opportunity will be fully realized with Industry 4.0 as spectrum opens up and private 5G networks go into operation at industrial sites around the world."

Brian Fitzgerald, Nokia.

“The 5G opportunity will be fully realized with Industry 4.0 as spectrum opens up and private 5G networks go into operation at industrial sites around the world,” said Brian Fitzgerald, SVP Verizon Business Group, Nokia. “We are committed to enabling our strategic partner Verizon Business to expand its 5G global footprint with enterprise customers such as ABP; by providing unprecedented levels of support to drive success for private 5G as well as delivering the highest levels of performance, resilience and security required by its customers”.

The new private 5G network for ABP, which contributes £7.5 billion to the UK economy every year, will enable data communications to be consolidated onto a single network, reducing complexity, whilst improving reliability and security of terminal communications. 





 

Dan Oliver

Dan is a British journalist with 20 years of experience in the design and tech sectors, producing content for the likes of Microsoft, Adobe, Dell and The Sunday Times. In 2012 he helped launch the world's number one design blog, Creative Bloq. Dan is now editor-in-chief at 5Gradar, where he oversees news, insight and reviews, providing an invaluable resource for anyone looking to stay up-to-date with the key issues facing 5G.