Telekom Connects Eurogate Container Terminals with 5G

5G for the Digitalization of Port Logistics: Europe’s leading independent container terminal operator EUROGATE has commissioned Deutsche Telekom to implement three 5G campus networks. At the ports in Hamburg, Bremerhaven, and Wilhelmshaven, the 5G business customer solution “Campus-Netz L” will improve mobile coverage at the container terminals.

(Hamburg) This will enable the container terminal operator Eurogate to deploy digital logistics applications even more securely and flexibly – with exclusive bandwidth, high availability, and full 5G performance. In addition to the public mobile network of Telekom, EUROGATE will also utilize its own 5G industrial frequencies in the range of 3.7 to 3.8 gigahertz (GHz) for critical data traffic – for example, for further digitalization of handling processes or closer networking of handling equipment with control and process control systems. The project was officially launched at a kick-off event at the Hamburg port.

Digitalization of Port Logistics Thanks to the Funding Project “Port-As-A-Service”

The project “Port-As-A-Service” is funded under the funding guideline “Digital Test Fields in Ports” by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV). This supports the establishment of digital test fields in ports to create real testing environments for innovations in the field of logistics 4.0. The realization of the 5G campus networks, along with other digital infrastructure measures at EUROGATE, has a project volume of 3.7 million EUR, of which 2.9 million EUR is funded under the funding guideline and is accompanied by TÜV Rheinland as the project sponsor. The goal of “Port-As-A-Service” is to leverage the opportunities of digitalization for German seaports and optimize investments in infrastructures. For EUROGATE, the opportunities include networking control and process control systems, automating container handling through the use of automated and/or autonomous port handling equipment, supporting container delivery and pickup through autonomous trucks, and connecting industrial port handling facilities (IIOT) to the cloud and utilizing data within a digital twin of a container terminal.

“A powerful and reliable technical infrastructure is the foundation for making container handling at our terminals even more efficient and sustainably securing our competitiveness,” says Michael Blach, Chairman of the EUROGATE Group Management. “The 5G campus networks from Deutsche Telekom will provide us with the best conditions to further automate our processes and test innovative logistics solutions based on 5G.”

Light Poles Become 5G Antenna Carriers

The Telekom campus networks will cover a total area of 5.6 million square meters at the three container terminals with the latest mobile communications standard. This corresponds to an area of about 785 football fields. Existing mobile facilities will be expanded on-site. Additionally, Telekom will install three additional 5G radio sites in Bremerhaven (2.9 million m² area) and Hamburg (1.4 million m² area), and two in Wilhelmshaven (1.3 million m² area). The special feature: No new masts will be erected; instead, existing light poles will be used as carriers for the powerful 5G antennas. The construction of the three 5G campus networks will be completed by spring 2024.

“The 5G coverage of EUROGATE’s container terminals is one of our largest campus network projects to date. EUROGATE will thus be able to fully utilize the potential of 5G to further optimize logistics processes and drive the digital transformation of the port terminals,” says Hagen Rickmann, Managing Director of Business Customers at Telekom Deutschland GmbH. “In addition to powerful 5G connectivity and exclusive bandwidth, the network architecture of the three campus networks will offer a particularly high level of control over critical data traffic on the terminal premises.”

Own 5G Frequencies for EUROGATE

Telekom will equip the port terminals with a so-called dual-slice campus network. In this setup, a public 5G network from Telekom will serve employees, external service providers, suppliers, or customers. The additional purely private 5G network will operate in the local 5G industrial spectrum in the range of 3.7 to 3.8 GHz. Unlike the public 3.6 GHz frequency spectrum of Telekom, these are 5G frequencies specifically provided for industry by the Federal Network Agency. It offers exclusive guaranteed network resources for EUROGATE’s internal data traffic. Data on this part of the network flows separately and is completely unaffected by public 5G data traffic. Thus, EUROGATE essentially has access to two 5G frequency bands and a total of around 190 MHz bandwidth.

New Technical Solution: High Security and Short Paths for Data

In this project, Telekom will use a new network architecture for the first time as part of the 5G business customer solution “Campus-Netz L”. This allows EUROGATE to benefit from lower infrastructure costs while achieving higher technical flexibility through the use of a virtualized and dedicated campus core network. This network architecture enables a so-called CUPS solution (Control and User Plane Separation). It combines a central 5G core network within the Telekom network with a local user gateway for the customer. This means that the management of the 5G campus network is carried out centrally by Telekom, while the customer’s data remains exclusively on-site on their own campus. This provides EUROGATE with maximum security without the need to invest in a complete core network. The local user gateway also ensures low latencies: Data takes the direct path from the end device through the private network to the customer IT.

High Availability and Exclusive 5G Data Traffic

The 5G campus solution enables EUROGATE to use exclusive SIM cards with unlimited data flat rates for connected devices. These guarantee maximum private 5G network performance with speeds of up to 1.5 GBit/s in download per device. The customer-specific SIM cards can be managed by EUROGATE through a self-service portal – for example, for assigning permissions or prioritizing selected data within the private 5G network. In addition, EUROGATE benefits from top-level service level agreements, including fixed contacts and a 24/7 hotline from Telekom. All local network components, including the user gateway, are also redundantly designed. This ensures continuous availability and reliability of the network.

Photo/Graphic: © Eurogate