• This 5G proprietary network project is emerging as a key tool for the Port of Valencia to advance in its digital transformation.
• The infrastructure will make it possible to work without cables or ties to external operators, with more than 25,000 connected devices: telephones, vehicles, surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, security services and drones, among others.
• The initiative has a budget of nearly six million euros, co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of the European Executive Agency for Climate, Infrastructure and Environment.
• The implementation of this infrastructure promotes a qualitative leap in the operation of the Valencian docks that will improve their efficiency, safety and connectivity.
• The technological deployment will be ad hoc to meet the needs of the Valencian port business and will operate independently of the criteria of a mobile operator.

València, 23 December 2024.- Powerful, efficient, reliable and secure connectivity for a port of the future. With this goal in mind, Valenciaport has embarked on a project to develop and implement its own 5G network ready to work without cables or ties to external operators, with more than 25,000 connected devices (telephones, vehicles, surveillance cameras, environmental sensors, security services, drones, among others). This project is a key tool for the Port of Valencia to advance in its digital transformation and become a benchmark in Smart Port or Port 4.0.

According to the director of the Port Authority of Valencia, Enrique Belda, ‘5G will allow us to configure the technological future of the Port of Valencia, a future that will provide advanced connectivity for the improvement of innovation and the definitive digital transformation’.

Valenciaport’s 5G network will use N40 frequencies, frequencies regulated by the public administration, thus ensuring the privacy of the network in the port area and allowing for customised security, controlling the devices that are connected. The initiative has a budget of around six million euros, co-financed by the Connecting Europe Facility of European Union (CEF) project.

Powerful in-house infrastructure

In total, more than fifteen n40 base stations will be deployed with one, two and even three sectors, which will provide almost total coverage of the Port Authority’s areas of operation. For Javier Gallego, head of Technologies at the APV, ‘our 5G SA network is one of the fundamental pillars to achieve the goal of becoming a definitive smart Port, based on two pillars: security and mobility’.

The solution will integrate market-leading technologies and solutions with a 5G private network core in its Stand-Alone (SA) mode. It will include the core network as well as the RAN (Radio Access Network) and routing/switching elements.

The network will support a maximum throughput of 10 Gbps and at least 25,000 connected devices in a geo-redundant core network consisting of a cluster of two network controllers, which interconnect all Base Bands. In addition, it will have its own high availability cyber security system.

The network will be deployed in a single n40 frequency band (2.3 – 2.4 GHz), which has a bandwidth of 20 MHz (expandable to 40 MHz in the near future). To test the network, two use cases will be built in a first stage, one for ‘police surveillance’ and the other for ‘remote maintenance’, for which it is necessary to cover the entire territory of the port.

Immediate use cases

Regarding the police surveillance system, the increasing use of cameras and other forms of surveillance is rapidly increasing the volume of data to be processed and stored. In this line of innovation, Autoridad Portuaria de Valencia is making improvements in the safety and security of the port, with measures such as the installation of cameras in police vehicles and equipment (e.g. in the waistcoat or in 5G mobiles), the main objective of which is to improve and strengthen both the perimeter security of the port and the internal surveillance of the port.

This network will enable enhanced mobile broadband connectivity to deploy a mobile surveillance solution that includes high-resolution cameras for real-time recording and broadcasting of operations on the ground.

With regard to the training of technicians, it is planned to implement immersive telepresence systems that, together with the Artificial Intelligence infrastructure to be installed in the CORE of the network, will make it possible to replace the maintenance work that traditionally required the travel and physical presence of experts. This would allow local staff to carry out these tasks efficiently, provided they have real-time guidance through the advanced telepresence system.

A port of the future

The Port of Valencia will use the 5G network to implement a series of use cases that will help it to propose more advanced services, where the network is an enabler and facilitator: 5G coverage for passengers, digital twinning, intelligent surveillance, collision risk detection or stowage planning, etc.

Joan Meseguer Llopis, senior manager of innovation projects at the Fundación Valenciaport, stresses that: ‘this is a pioneering project in Europe, coordinated by the Fundación Valenciaport, which is distinguished by the combination of three key features: the size of the port, the comprehensive implementation of 5G technology and the exclusive use of the radio spectrum available under the self-provisioning model’.

The completely private and dedicated 5G SA solution involves the deployment of its own exclusive-use network, which means full control of all decisions relating to this infrastructure in an independent and unilateral manner.

The evolution and upgrades or growth of the infrastructure will also be in the hands of the VPA, acting independently and without the constraints of being dependent on a third party, with whom it may not be aligned in its interests.

The performance of the network will be guaranteed by technology and the improvement of the user experience will be a reality in 2027, making the Port of Valencia a future-proof site with a great capacity to adapt to changes in the market and technology.