Cellnex deployed a private 5G network at San Sebastian airport using equipment from Nokia
Spanish airport operator Aena and European telecom infrastructure and services operator Cellnex Telecom have started the operation of a private network based on 5G technology at San Sebastian International Airport, in Spain.
Under this project, Cellnex was responsible for installing and rolling out the 5G network at the airport. The network will enable a number of use cases related to drone operation, mainly related to security and advanced monitoring.
In this project, Cellnex is collaborating with Finnish vendor Nokia as its partner for the deployment of the 5G network, while Inetum will supply and operate the drones.
Pablo Lopez Loeches, head of entrepreneurship at Aena, underlined “the importance of having a private 5G network at one of our airports that allows us to test specific airport use cases that require high capacity, low latency and high device density, as well as a new connectivity layer that provides the airport community with a highly reliable and readily available data transmission service.”
Meanwhile, Miquel Mir, enterprise sales manager at Cellnex Spain, highlighted “the importance of telecommunications infrastructures and technologies such as 5G in contributing to optimize processes in complex environments like airports, where security and operational efficiency are key.”
Earlier this year, Spanish rail infrastructure operator Adif Alta Velocidad (Adif AV) has handed Cellnex Telecom and Nokia a €20.5 million contract to build private 5G and public 5G networks to connect, digitalize, and automate its rail logistics centers in Spain.
State-owned Adif AV manages 3,762 kilometers of track and 46 stations for high-speed rail, plus 11,780 kilometers of regular rail track. The 5G rollout is intended to support its Industry 4.0 ambitions, and crucially to reduce the cost of rail freight transport, said a press note. Cellnex and Nokia will deploy 10 different private 5G networks in 10 different logistics terminals in Spain; each will use the 2.3 GHz band.
The 10 private 5G deployments, for exclusive use by Adif AV, are scheduled for the Vicálvaro and Villaverde terminals in Madrid, the Zaragoza Plaza terminal in Zaragoza, Can Tunis and La Llagosta in Barcelona, Fuente San Luis in Valencia, Majarabique in Seville, Vitoria Júndiz in Vitoria, plus terminals in Bilbao and Valladolid. Alongside each, Cellnex and Nokia will string-up public 5G coverage to connect rail lines around and between the terminals.
The public 5G infrastructure will be available on a shared basis to telecoms operators to provide their services to “areas where deployment would not be economically viable at present”, said a statement. The public 5G setup will provide “umbrella coverage throughout the terminal area(s) in the 700 MHz band and… in the 3.5 GHz band in high traffic density areas”. The contract covers the design, build, and management of the network infrastructure.
Last month, Airbus and Cellnex signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to explore collaboration in business and mission critical communications. The MoU will be used to explore joint opportunities around mission-critical communications in different countries around Europe.
Cellnex manages a portfolio of more than 135,000 sites – including forecast roll-outs up to 2030 – in Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Portugal, Austria, Denmark, Sweden and Poland.
