NTT builds private 5G network for top German university

NTT, a global IT infrastructure and services company, has announced a private 5G installation for a leading university in Germany. On the heels of the private 5G collaboration NTT and Cisco announced together at Mobile World Congress 2023, the two companies have now moved from pilot phase to live deployment with a private 5G mobile network for RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

“We are very pleased that we were able to support RWTH Aachen University in setting up the high-performance network,” said Kai Grunwitz, Managing Director of NTT in Germany. “The university has demonstrated its commitment to excellence with the campus network and is now a scientific pioneer of private 5G in Germany. This quantum leap is made possible by the Cisco technology used in this project. By leveraging their advanced ORAN technology, the possibilities for future expansion and applications are endless.”

RWTH Aachen University was in need of stronger on-campus connectivity, particularly in areas with teams of scientists and students focusing on research. But the university also needed complete visibility and control over network functionality. Private 5G networks work on a completely isolated frequency range and therefore offer the university the visibility and control it needed, enabling it to independently control data and voice communication in buildings across campus.

In addition, the mobile private 5G network has created optimal conditions for the university’s important research projects due to the high bandwidth, real-time data transmission and low latency. The team of scientists in each of the nine facilities on campus now benefit from optimal connectivity and interference-free digital applications for their work.

“The P5G network is a very important step into the future for RWTH Aachen University,” said Frank Meeßen, Coordinator of the 5G activities at RWTH Aachen University. “Thanks to the private radio range, we guarantee interference-free connectivity and can optimally implement our scientific applications. Our project partners have optimally implemented our high standards and created a network that we can even use flexibly by moving individual antennas.”

NTT, together with Cisco Systems and Airspan Networks, is leveraging ORAN technology to implement the campus network. In contrast to traditional radio access networks, the Open RAN approach is not tied to a specific manufacturer and offers greater flexibility. The modular architecture processes data in software instead of on chips making it particularly suitable for research projects.

RWTH Aachen University will use the P5G network for various research initiatives, including an EU-funded robot project, location-based emergency route planning, and the use of real-time data transmission in hospital operating rooms. In addition, the university is currently evaluating the possibility of using the campus network as an alternative to WLAN in the future.

“We are very pleased that RWTH Aachen University is once again a pioneer and is also taking a big step forward when it comes to digitisation in Germany,” said Rüdiger Wölfl, Channel Leader at Cisco Germany. “Together with NTT, we have built a private 5G network that gives RWTH all the capabilities for a fast network, resilient IT security and modern hybrid work environments. We are very proud to accompany the university on this journey by building a P5G network.”

Image ©RWTH Aachen Campus GmbH/Andreas Steindl