Network engineering, testing, and analytics company Umlaut has appointed Airspan Networks and Druid Software to build a private 5G network at its headquarters in Aachen, in Germany. The network will occupy the 3.7-3.8 GHz band, liberated by the German regulator for locally-licensed private networks.
The new ‘campus’ network will be used for engineering and testing of various applications for logistics, manufacturing, health and life sciences, and utilities, said Umlaut (stylised as umlaut). Airspan is providing the radio componentry; Druid is providing the core network functionality.
Accenture agreed a deal to acquire Umlaut earlier this month for an undisclosed fee. US-based Airspan and Ireland-based Druid already work together. The pair have an agreement with German system integrator Siticom (stylised siticom) on supply of 5G radio and core solutions; both engaged in Siticom’s recent private 5G deployment at the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits (IIS).
Umlaut said the new 5G setup will offer customers a way to “realize their application scenarios… without the hassle… to apply for a license and build their own network”. A statement said: “For companies that do have the assets to build their own private network, they can still benefit from Umlaut’s services to help design, deploy, optimize and operate their network. They can train and familiarize themselves in private network management techniques and processes.”
Umlaut listed sundry services to be made available on the infrastructure, including consumer and industrial 5G device testing, private 5G network design and management, 5G-geared Industry 4.0 connectivity setups, 5G network security, multi-vendor 5G radio and core interoperability, and 5G automotive mobility concepts.
Hakan Ekmen, chief executive for telecoms at Umlaut, said: “We can test a wide variety of industrial applications and scenarios which provide real value for our customers. We will provide them with tangible, reliable results to help them develop their 5G strategies and proof of concepts, in the perfect test environment, saving the cost of building and operating their own 5G testbeds.”
Liam Kenny,chief executive at Druid Software, said: “We are delighted to support umlaut as they pioneer 5G standalone capability for enterprise innovation in the German market. umlaut is ideally positioned with the enterprise slicing capabilities of the Druid [core] and Airspan’s [radio] solutions to address the business-critical needs of industry.”
Eric Stonestrom, chief executive at Airspan Networks, said: “This private network solution leveraging our 5G and Open RAN expertise, software and hardware will help many enterprises develop and validate 5G use cases that will drive innovation.“
