Main Ports Market Acceleration Program Kick Off December 10th, 2024, Schiphol
On Tuesday 10th of December, we had a successful start of a new initiative on private (4/5G) networks for main ports (both Air and Sea Ports) at Schiphol in Amsterdam. Organized by Koen Mioulet of UlWiMo and Anke Kuipers and Mark Beermann of Ecosystem Services.With material support from Schiphol, Port of Rotterdam, Druid and NTT Data we organized a (Hybrid) round table/ workshop. With 40+ attendees live and online, we have gathered a group comprising many stakeholders like end users, solution providers, operators, system integrators etc. See the list of attendees in the appendices.
Agenda
The agenda consisted of three blocks.
1. Introduction
In the morning, we started with a welcome by the organizing team Koen Mioulet, Mark Beermann and Anke Kuipers and an extensive introduction of the participants. Willem Blom of Schiphol gave his introduction to private 5G at the airport and Koen presented the status of the vertical and envisaged program elements. All presentations can be downloaded here.
In the appendix an overview of the participating persons and organization can be found that were live on location and participated online.
2. Experience from the niche and from the sponsoring participants
In the afternoon we presented experiences in a hybrid way, so both live and online. Koen presented a Market update based on recent events like Passenger Terminal Xpo (Frankfurt), Smart Digital Ports (Rotterdam), 5GAcia and PortComms (London).Then followed the views of NTT Data on private networking by Gordon Hewitt and Wim van Peperstraten. Bob Dodemond of Port of Rotterdam presented their vision on the 5G future and David O’Byrne from Druid presented their insights gained with p5G at airports internationally.
The interaction that came after was facilitated by an introduction of Graham Wilde of Hutchinsons, who represents 50+ ports. Graham talked about scaling amongst assets, how to grow from ‘one off’ projects to a series of deployments?
Tales Gaspar from TechUK gave insight into the experiences in the UK with newly released private spectrum and deployment of private networks.
3. Visions from 3rd parties and candidate participants
The session was concluded live with the view of the participants with an introduction of ecosystemic cooperation by Anke and Mark from Ecosystem Services leading up to a discussion of the participants in three breakouts, diving into the interests and objectives of the various participants, the scoping of the ecosystem; which led to animated and engaged discussions. Ways to accelerate the market and what ‘blocks’ deployments were also debated.
Summary of the presentations and discussions
The below is a condensed representation of some of the key topic discussed related to private wireless in Main Ports (airports, seaports) and some of the topics of the interaction around the table.
Traction
There is no doubt that Main Ports is a vertical where a lot of private 4/5G deployment takes place. GSMA statistics reveal than Main Ports is the 2nd or 3rd vertical to embrace private wireless, after manufacturing. The amount of Main Ports deploying private networks in NW Europe alone is also a testimonial to the significance of the market:
In the session the following emerged on the pace of deployment: Schiphol started deploying private 5G and presented so
• Druid showed its impressive USA airports references
• Hutchison already possesses private 4/5G in multiple of its ports (Felixstowe, ECT) and is looking to scale up over its 50+(!) properties
• NTT showcased its reference projects, amongst them Fraport, Cologne and Liege airports.
Spectrum
Spectrum is still widely recognized as a key resource for private networks, yet availability of private spectrum is still erratic in Europe.
More was discussed on spectrum:
• There is regulatory uncertainty in Netherlands
• UK calls for pragmatism from the regulator regarding current 3.8-4.2 Ghz deployment
• When scaling up, inconsistent spectrum across countries is a severe burden (Hutchison)
Roles models for port authorities
THE topic that keeps surfacing is ’what role to take for the (air)port authority?’. These roles may vary from very retracted or ‘light’ to very engaged or ‘profound’; both when it comes to spectrum or to network deployment:
In the round table more was discussed on this:
• Rotterdam presented its plans and its quest for the proper role to embark on; as do other port authorities
• This role issue is the largest common denominator at other ports and airports conventions too
• The position relative to the national regulator on spectrum, spectrum management, spectrum coordination is still largely open
Eco System and supply chain
The supply chain for private 4/5G may look like this:
Confusing as this may already be, the average enterprise or Main Ports embarking on a p4/5G journey is lost when it comes to players, actors, relative positions of these etc.
The eco systemic approach of this was very much a topic in the round table. Some findings on the ecosystem were:
• There is wider ecosystem, beyond ‘just’ private wireless: the operational involvement and OT integration. This was elaborated by Hutchison, but also eminent from a recent GSMA study as presented at the round table
• Regulatory delegation to the landlord or port authority
• There was a general feeling that we can add to this with material on roles and actors in a digestible format and with easily accessible materials.
Awareness creation and market acceleration
There are many events for airports and seaports where we can ‘promote our case’ and raise awareness. Last year alone, private wireless for Main Ports has been presented at these 3rd party events throughout 2024:
Most of these events are repetitive and it was widely felt that we need to use these and other occasions to raise awareness and accelerate the market. With the deliverables the Mainports Programme envisages and attendance at such event we can enlarge the circle of ‘believers’ beyond the current inner circle of addicts and towards the much wider circle of candidate users
Conclusion
The overriding consensus is that successful deployment and use of private 5G networks is a matter of cooperation and sharing more information and insights, joining forces for generating optimal solutions and addressing the regulatory challenges there are restraining the market. Also, digestible deliverables are required to help less involved end users gain traction in this new domain. Our thanks to all the participants and supporting partners and especially to the excellent facilitation by Schiphol making this a very fruitful and successful start of a new program.
For the full report contact info@primma.org
