Automating and connecting the entire port ecosystem; improving operations that require high precision and immediacy; massively interconnecting sensors and cameras, and having continuous information on container movements. These are some of the possibilities offered by the new private 5G network of the Port de Barcelona, which will allow the development of multiple innovations and technological solutions due to its great capacity and reliability.
This capacity of the new network will allow the port ecosystem to make a leap in scale in its technological tools. So much so that it places the port of the Catalan capital at the forefront of wireless telecommunications, and gives it a competitive advantage over other infrastructures that do not have this connectivity.
With an investment of 3.6 million euros distributed over five years —with four extendable to one more—, the network has been deployed by Orange. The project, announced a year ago, covers the entire scope of action of the Port, including two nautical miles of the water surface around the infrastructure.
The benefits of the network, launched a few weeks before the America's Cup begins, include having a backup communication network in case of a main system failure in critical facilities. The network's resistance to electromagnetic interference will also improve coordination with the Port's control tower; gain efficiency in rail transport; install cameras and sensors in areas without fiber access, and manage the connectivity and data transmission of systems that allow connecting vessels to the electrical grid, within the Port's strategy towards the electrification of its docks.
The Port Police and the rest of the security and emergency forces operating in the infrastructure will also have their activity facilitated, as their intercom will improve. In addition, it will speed up the reception of the signal from the more than 400 surveillance cameras in the port area, and will facilitate the use of instruments such as aerial surveillance drones, which can also connect to this 5G network.
These advantages "are just one example of the potential of 5G technology," defended the president of the Port, Lluís Salvadó, who highlighted that the network represents "a pioneering project in Europe." And this 5G network has a particularity: while usually non stand alone (NSA) 5G networks are installed, this one is of the stand alone (SA) type, required for many of the most innovative and advanced uses. The ultra-low latency and the ability to connect millions of devices in a square kilometer allow SA-type networks to maximize 5G performance.
This "ultra-low latency, high data transmission capacity and multi-operability between devices" of the Port's 5G SA will allow improving and reinforcing the daily operations of the port community and its security, as added the director of Companies of MasOrange in Catalunya, Víctor Vera. This improvement in its connectivity will be crucial for the future of the Port and its port community, including blue economy companies that are called to occupy new spaces within an infrastructure that seeks to be a global benchmark.