Private networks set new standards
A 450 MHz PoC LTE network for a Polish power grid and a private 5G network at a Japanese facility.
Nokia has been chosen by Polish energy sector company PGE Systemy to supply its 5G-ready, industrial-grade private wireless solution, following the successful trial of a 450 MHz PoC network that had been in operation since April 2019.
According to Nokia, this marks a critical first step in evaluating the use of the 450 MHz band to support the wide-area operations of energy distribution system operators (DSOs) across Poland.
PGE Systemy will use the PoC infrastructure to further develop its concept of a country-wide critical communications network. The final private network will potentially support 15,000 to 20,000 users over LTE/4.9G, as well as wireless connectivity for up to 14 million smart meters and 35,000 existing and future SCADA connections.
The Polish Energy Ministry has chosen PGE Systemy to operate a 4.9G private wireless network on the 450 MHz band for critical and operational communications in its next-generation power grid. Favoured by the energy sector across Europe, this band has excellent propagation properties and generous power levels, and there is strong availability of voice and data radios from a variety of equipment suppliers to support numerous applications.
It is also the band of choice for the support of machine-to-machine communications in the energy sector, including smart meters and wireless SCADA connections required, for example, with wind turbines.
Future applications of the network may include distributed energy resource management and other digital smart grid applications.
“Poland has a strong concern to digitalise our energy grid because further integration of renewables with grid as well as conversion to distributed energy systems requires ubiquitous, reliable and safe communications,” said Andrzej Piotrowski, Vice-President of PGE Systemy.
“The Nokia proof of concept has demonstrated that it will meet our needs in terms of coverage, service quality, resilience and long-term availability.”
“Nokia has a big commitment to Poland’s communications infrastructure with over 6000 employees in the country working in our R&D centres, developing our newest technologies, including 4.9G and 5G,” said Chris Johnson, Vice-President of Nokia’s Enterprise business unit.
“Nokia’s proof of concept, 5G-ready private network has ably demonstrated the superiority of cellular systems for mission-critical and machine-to-machine communications in these advanced applications.”
Japan’s first private
Fujitsu has been granted Japan’s first commercial private 5G radio station licence by the Kanto Bureau of Telecommunications, and will begin operating a private 5G network at the company’s Shin-Kawasaki Technology Square office.
Fujitsu will strengthen crime prevention measures in the building by leveraging its private 5G technology for data transmission of high-definition images collected by multi-point cameras, creating an AI-powered security system that quickly detects suspicious behaviour through motion analysis.
Through its newly established private 5G co-creation space, FUJITSU Collaboration Lab, the company will also offer customers and partners the chance to workshop various use cases for private 5G to deliver business innovation and help resolve regional issues. Fujitsu experts will also provide support with on-site implementation for customers at the location.
With the aim of creating a smart factory, Fujitsu will also obtain a licence for private 5G at its Oyama plant in Tochigi Prefecture, which serves as a manufacturing base for network equipment. Together with Fujitsu Telecom Networks Limited, which manufactures network equipment at this plant, Fujitsu will continue to verify the utility and possible applications for its private 5G technologies.
The development required Fujitsu to obtain a private 5G radio station provisional licence from the Kanto Bureau of Telecommunications. Under this licence, Fujitsu verified the registration and connectivity of base stations and land mobile stations, as well as coverage area, in accordance with the Japanese Radio Law, in order to obtain a full commercial licence. As a result, the company’s private 5G radio stations were found to be in compliance with the standards set by the Radio Law.
The system configuration is based on 5G- Non-Stand Alone (NSA), which uses 5G for data transmission and LTE for connection control between base stations and land mobile stations. The frequencies used are 28.2 GHz to 28.3 GHz for 5G, and 2575 MHz to 2595 MHz for LTE. The coverage area is approximately 28,000 square metres.
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