Ericsson is to deploy private LTE and 5G networks at three major Paris airports as part of a new contract with Groupe ADP (Aéroports de Paris) and Air France, as well as Groupe ADP’s digital tech subsidiary Hub One.
The Swedish vendor will install a private mobile network covering Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Paris-Orly and Paris-Le Bourget airports. The new cellular system will serve over 120,000 airport employees and contractors working at the three sites, and around 1,000 companies of differing sizes and sectors.
Hub One will manage and set up the network on behalf of Groupe ADP and Air France. Ericsson’s technology will enable Hub One to comply with security requirements from France’s National Agency for Security of Information System. No mobile operator is mentioned in the press statement from Ericsson; the setup is presumed to use privately-held spectrum in France.
French regulator Arcep has moved to align mobile operators in the country with industrial policy, rather than to make spectrum available to industrial operatives, as German regulator BNetzA has done. However, its pending release of prime 3.4-3.8 GHz spectrum for 5G to operators in the country stipulates they must ‘slice’ their 5G networks for industry, or make sub-let local chunks of bandwidth to them.
Ericsson said the deployment will be completed “across all outdoor spaces” at the airports by the end of 2020 and indoors across all public and reserved areas for professionals working at the terminals by the end of 2021.
Åsa Tamsons, senior vice president and head of business area technologies and new businesses at Ericsson, said: “Anyone who has ever been to an airport knows that security, reliability and speed are key to ensure a good travel experience. The digital transformation of airports represents a big opportunity and private 5G networks will enable and accelerate this transformation. We are pleased to collaborate to future-proof Paris airports with 5G ready networks delivering fast, secure and reliable wireless internet.”
Edward Arkwright, executive director general of Groupe ADP and president of Hub One, said: “The development of smart airports continues to grow thanks to this new major step. The deployment of this professional mobile network will strengthen the performance and accelerate the digitalization at our Parisian airports and pave in the best way the resumption of air traffic.”
Jean-Christophe Lalanne, executive vice president for IT at Air France-KLM group, said: “Air France is delighted with this major partnership with Groupe ADP and Hub One and its continued collaboration with Ericsson, who have been with us since the experimental phase of this project. We are proud to be working together to set up this very high-speed private professional mobile network at the heart of the Paris airports. This innovative program is another way to improve our operational performance in order to meet the expectations of our customers and employees.”
