Verizon Business and Associated British Ports (ABP) will deploy a private 5G network at the Port of Southampton.
In collaboration with Nokia, the 5G network will provide one of the UK’s busiest ports with low latency to improve efficiencies and bolster communications around the port.
Henrik L. Pedersen, ABP CEO, 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 UK to offer a private 5G network to our customers is a fantastic milestone for ABP.”
The 5G platform will address issues onsite such as loss of data communications due to poor WiFi connectivity.
The advanced capabilities of private 5G – 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 (ML).
From the network, the port can better the enablement of emerging technologies such as asset tracking, autonomous guided vehicles, workflow management, and predictive maintenance.
With this new contract the Port of Southampton will become the first UK mainland port with a private 5G network.
Tami Erwin, CEO, Verizon Business, added, “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.”
The Port of Southampton is responsible for £40 billion ($55 billion) in exports from the UK every year.
