Three year multi million contract for outstanding networks
Ericsson has reached a multi-million Euro deal with UK telco BT to build private 5G networks for UK industries.
The project will blend BT’s expertise in building converged fixed and mobile networks with Ericsson’s 5G engineering experience. The ‘standalone sectors’, industry speak for the industries that could use network slicing, were identified by BT as manufacturing, defence, education, retail, healthcare, transport and logistics.
BT is investing almost £100 million over the next three years in its Division X unit to shape technologies such as 5G, the internet of things (IoT), edge computing, cloud services and artificial intelligence around the way industries work.
BT and Ericsson have a long-standing partnership and previously collaborated to install private 5G networks at Belfast Harbour. Working with Ericsson on this project is a huge milestone and will play a major role in transforming business, said Marc Overton, BT’s managing director for Division X, who claimed it was “ushering in a new era of hyper-connected spaces.”
“Our skill and expertise at building converged fixed and mobile networks [combined] with Ericsson’s leading, sustainable and secure 5G network equipment will be [an] attractive to many industries,” said Overton. 5G private networks will create new ‘smart factory processes’, Overton said, promising that the advancement of Industry 4.0 can realise significant cost savings and efficiencies for manufacturers.
Unlike a public network, a private 5G network can be configured to a specific business’s needs, as well as by individual site or location, Overton explained. Private networks also provide the foundation to overlay other innovative technologies such as the IoT and AI, as well as virtual and augment realities, opening up a multitude of possibilities,” said Overton.