Verizon Business is working with Associated British Ports (ABP) to deploy private 5G at the Port of Southampton. Delivered in partnership with Nokia, Verizon’s private 5G platform will provide one of the U.K.’s busiest ports with a secure, low-latency private network connection.
ABP operates a network of 21 ports, including the Port of Southampton. Acting as the U.K.’s number one port responsible for £40 billion in exports from the U.K. every year, the Port of Southampton provides a critical link in supply chains serving businesses and manufacturers throughout the nation. It is also the U.K.’s number one port for cars and cruise, handling approximately 900,000 cars and welcoming millions of cruise passengers annually. With this new contract the Port of Southampton will become the first U.K. mainland port with access to a private 5G network.
The Verizon private 5G platform will provide ABP with a secure private wireless data network across selected areas within the East and West Docks of the Port. This will enable data communications to be consolidated onto a single network, reducing previous complexity as well as helping to improve the reliability and security of terminal communications.
The deployment will not only address the immediate problem of loss of onsite data communications as a result of poor wifi connectivity, but the advanced capabilities of private 5G, specifically its reliability, throughput, security and ultra low latency can help enable the use of new technologies such as real-time analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT) and Machine Learning. In turn, this can help with the enablement of new service advancements including asset tracking, autonomous guided vehicles, workflow management, predictive maintenance and safety monitoring in the near future.
Henrik L. Pedersen, ABP Chief Executive Officer, said: “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 U.K. to offer a private 5G network to our customers is a fantastic milestone for ABP.”
