Vertical: Seaports
Application: Pallet scanning, push-to-talk safety communications, forklift tracking, geofencing, predictive maintenance
Ecosystem: Spark New Zealand, Ericsson
Private Network: 5G
Port Nelson, a key cargo gateway at the top of New Zealand’s South Island, has deployed a private 5G network across three warehouses in Nelson and Blenheim. Built on Ericsson Private 5G and delivered through Spark New Zealand’s 5G+ Private Network service, the network covers approximately 30,000 square meters and replaces unreliable Wi-Fi that had been creating dead spots and forcing staff to work around connectivity gaps. The deployment supports pallet scanning, forklift tracking, and digital push-to-talk safety communications, with a roadmap that includes AI-enabled vision, predictive maintenance, and broader automation.
Why Wi-Fi Wasn’t Working
Ports are among the most demanding wireless environments in industrial operations — large footprints, dense storage, heavy machinery in constant motion, and workflows that depend on uninterrupted data capture. For Port Nelson, those conditions exposed the limits of a Wi-Fi-first approach.
The port’s warehouses handle palletized cargo including bottled wine, empty wine bottles, forestry products, pipfruit, and seafood. High-density block-stacking storage and the complexity of the site’s layout meant that no matter how densely Wi-Fi access points were deployed, dead spots persisted. Forklift operators scan every pallet as part of inventory and logistics processes, and connectivity gaps meant those workflows had to be restructured around network limitations rather than operational logic.
“Connectivity was becoming a real operational constraint for us,” said Reagan Pattison, General Manager of Business Transformation at Port Nelson. “No matter how much we tried to saturate our warehouses with Wi-Fi, we couldn’t get consistent performance. That impacted productivity, created frustration for our operators, and limited our ability to modernize how we work.”
The Network Architecture
Spark New Zealand’s 5G+ Private Network service is built on Ericsson Private 5G. For Port Nelson, the deployment includes a high-availability core installed on-site at the port, connected to small cell radios that provide coverage throughout the warehouses and into connected outdoor yard areas. The three sites span Nelson and Blenheim, with total coverage of roughly 30,000 square meters.
Each forklift has been equipped with an Ericsson Cradlepoint ruggedized R1900 router. The dual-SIM design of these devices allows vehicles to maintain connectivity as they move between the private network footprint and areas served only by Spark’s public 5G network — important for operations that extend beyond the warehouse perimeter into the wider port yard.
Port Nelson is also using Ericsson’s NetCloud platform to monitor network performance in real time, giving operations and IT teams visibility into how the network is performing and where issues may arise. This kind of network management capability is increasingly important as ports add more connected devices and workflows that depend on consistent uptime.
Safety as a Core Use Case
Beyond logistics, the network directly supports Port Nelson’s health and safety program. A digital push-to-talk platform runs over the private 5G infrastructure, enabling real-time voice communications across the site. The network also supports location-based alerting designed to help separate pedestrian workers from heavy mobile plant — forklifts and other large vehicles that operate continuously through the same spaces.
Planned additions include geofence intelligence and broadcast messaging, which would allow the port to push alerts to workers or vehicles based on their position on-site. This kind of location-aware safety capability reflects how private networks are increasingly being used not just to move data faster, but to actively support operational safety outcomes in complex environments.
“Safety is fundamental in a port environment. Private 5G gives us the ability to prioritize critical communications, improve visibility of what’s happening across the site, and move towards more proactive, engineered safety controls,” Pattison said.
A Foundation for Future Automation
Port Nelson has identified several additional applications it plans to add to the network over time. Real-time asset tracking, predictive maintenance, enhanced CCTV, AI-enabled computer vision, and broader automation have all been flagged as future directions. Each of these depends on the kind of reliable, low-latency connectivity that the private 5G network is intended to provide.
Ian Ross, Head of Private Networks for Australia and New Zealand at Ericsson Enterprise Wireless Solutions, pointed to the significance of consistent wireless performance in environments where vehicles and inventory are in constant motion. “In a warehousing environment where there are moving vehicles and large volumes of stock moving in and out of the space, reliable connectivity that digital workflows can depend on really matters,” Ross said.
This arc — from solving an immediate operational problem to building a foundation for more sophisticated applications — is a common pattern in private network deployments at ports and logistics facilities. The initial business case is usually grounded in fixing something broken; the longer-term value comes from what the network enables next.
New Zealand’s Growing Private Network Footprint
The Port Nelson deployment adds to a small but growing set of private network deployments in New Zealand. Spark’s involvement here follows a broader pattern among telecommunications carriers building out private network service offerings for industrial customers who need more control and reliability than public networks provide.
Greg Clark, Chief Customer Officer at Spark, described the project as an example of how private 5G can be applied in complex, production-critical settings. “Spark’s 5G+ Private Network is designed for organizations that need secure, high-performance connectivity they can rely on. At Port Nelson, it’s enabling safer warehouse operations today while opening the door to automation, advanced IoT, and smarter ways of working across the entire port in the future,” Clark said.
For the broader ports and maritime sector, Port Nelson’s experience reinforces a familiar message: the economics and practicality of private cellular networks have reached a point where they are a viable solution for operations that Wi-Fi has consistently struggled to serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Why did Port Nelson choose private 5G over Wi-Fi?
A: Port Nelson had invested heavily in Wi-Fi across its warehouses but continued to experience dead spots due to the high-density block-stacking storage and complex site layout. These gaps forced staff to change how they worked in order to maintain connections during pallet scanning and other logistics tasks. Private 5G, with its different propagation characteristics and dedicated spectrum, was able to provide more consistent coverage across the same spaces where Wi-Fi had repeatedly fallen short.
Q: What hardware was deployed as part of the network?
A: The network uses Ericsson Private 5G with a high-availability core installed on-site at Port Nelson, connected to small cell radios for indoor and outdoor yard coverage. Each forklift was fitted with an Ericsson Cradlepoint ruggedized R1900 router, which uses dual-SIM functionality to allow vehicles to move seamlessly between the private network and Spark’s public 5G network. Ericsson’s NetCloud platform was also deployed to give operations teams visibility into network performance.
Q: What applications are planned for the future?
A: In addition to the current use cases — pallet scanning, forklift tracking, and digital push-to-talk safety communications — Port Nelson has identified real-time asset tracking, predictive maintenance, enhanced CCTV, AI-enabled computer vision, and broader automation as applications it plans to add. Geofence intelligence and broadcast messaging are also on the near-term roadmap, expanding the safety capabilities of the network.
