Vertical: Seaports
Application: Autonomous vehicle control, real-time logistics orchestration, AI-driven analytics, predictive maintenance, environmental monitoring
Ecosystem: Verizon Business, Nokia
Private Network: 5G
Verizon Business and Nokia have secured a major contract to deploy private 5G networks across Thames Freeport’s industrial sites along the River Thames Estuary. The project encompasses six networks across three critical locations, covering approximately 1,700 acres of port, logistics, and manufacturing facilities outside London.
The deployment will span the Port of Tilbury with two private 5G networks, DP World London Gateway with two networks covering the deep-water container terminal and logistics park, and Ford’s Dagenham manufacturing plant with one network. The entire setup will comprise about 80 private 5G radios with synchronized geo-redundant core networks ensuring continuous operations with built-in failover capabilities.
Nokia will provide its Digital Automation Cloud core network system integrated with Mission Critical Industrial Edge compute blades at each location. The networks will operate exclusively on the 3.8-4.2 GHz spectrum band designated for private enterprise usage, with an entirely 5G-based approach rather than incorporating legacy LTE technology.
“Because Thames Freeport wants to be ahead of the technology curve,” explained Jennifer Artley, senior vice president of ‘5G acceleration’ at Verizon Business. “It doesn’t want yesterday’s tech for tomorrow’s transformation. 5G supports its immediate needs and also provides flexibility to grow.”
The project represents a significant win for Verizon Business in the European market, building on their previous Nokia collaboration at the Port of Southampton since 2021. The competitive tender process saw Verizon compete against established UK mobile operators for the contract, which was finalized after discussions dating back to 2023.
Industrial applications will leverage high-speed, low-latency capabilities to enable autonomous yard tractors and quay cranes for vehicle control systems. Real-time logistics orchestration will enable smarter tracking, routing, and monitoring of goods and cargo throughout the supply chain. Environmental sustainability receives attention through edge-connected IoT sensors and AI analytics providing near-real-time monitoring of emissions, air quality, water quality, and noise levels.
Thames Freeport is expected to draw £4.5bn of new investment and has already created 1,400 jobs, with plans to reach 5,000 by 2030. The freeport designation provides special economic status eliminating taxes on imported goods to stimulate trade and investment.
Martin Whiteley, chief executive at Thames Freeport, emphasized the strategic importance: “Our investment in private 5G is not an incremental network upgrade — it’s the backbone of a technological transformation.”
The scale demonstrates the deployment’s magnitude. DP World London Gateway operates as the UK’s largest integrated deep-sea container port with capacity for 3.5 million twenty-foot equivalent container units annually. The Port of Tilbury processes 16 million tons of cargo yearly across 31 independent terminals. Ford’s Dagenham facility stands as London’s largest manufacturing site.
Implementation targets rapid deployment with a six-month timeline suggested by industry observers. The partnership leverages Nokia’s extensive experience in ports and maritime logistics, particularly from Finnish port deployments and international projects.
David de Lancellotti, vice president of enterprise campus edge sales at Nokia, highlighted the significance: “The Thames Freeport deployment is a landmark example of this evolution at scale.” Future expansion possibilities remain open as operational requirements evolve, and new use cases emerge within Thames Freeport’s multi-billion-pound transformation initiative.
