23. 11. 2023
With the development of the fifth generation of mobile telephony (5G), the conditions have been established for the introduction of private mobile networks, which will support continued digitalisation of the economy.
Telekom Slovenije has been carefully, strategically and sustainably planning its 5G network since its launch in 2020 in a way that will support private dedicated networks within a single physical infrastructure. Now it has taken the next step in development and technology and established the INO.LAB, a demonstration environment for a private mobile 5G network located at its premises. The demonstration environment is open to all interested stakeholders who want to test the advantages of such networks and participate in an open innovation process.
Telekom Slovenije’s INO.LAB is intended for collaboration and testing various solution cases based on the use of private mobile 5G networks technology. It is open for participation to all interested stakeholders – entrepreneurs, enterprises, research and academic organizations, and customers who wish to engage in an open process of innovation or implementation of various use cases of private mobile networks tailored to the specific needs and requirements of individual environments.
Boštjan Škufca Zaveršek, vice president of the Management Board of Telekom Slovenije, emphasized that “businesses can utilise private mobile networks to significantly improve productivity, optimise processes, and increase efficiency and competitiveness. Private mobile networks are a fundamental building block of digital transformation that will support advanced and innovative business approaches and the introduction of advanced solutions for the industrial internet of things.”
“Private mobile networks make it possible for businesses in different verticals to adapt their communication infrastructure to the requirements of their processes and business models. In addition, they provide a high level of connection availability even with a large number of connected devices, as well as communication with high data rates and low latency, which is essential for real-time applications such as robotics, logistics, or autonomous vehicles. At the same time, private mobile networks provide a high level of security, essential for processing and working with sensitive data and ensure information security,” emphasized Vesna Prodnik, member of the Management Board of Telekom Slovenije for technology.
The INO.LAB demonstration environment provides various concrete use cases for private mobile networks. These include the role of 5G in the digitization of manufacture and logistics and the operation of a smart factory are presented; advanced remote monitoring of industrial internet of things (IIoT) machines, as well as methods for managing real estate and assets (energy management and object monitoring, smart parking lots, etc.); the automated process from order receipt to goods shipment, as well as IT/OT cybersecurity for private mobile and industrial networks, and the options for monitoring and managing private mobile networks. Telekom Slovenije developed the use case together with partners, the LASIM Laboratory of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana and the partners from the private sector Iku, Avtenta, Metronik and Spica; it is also open to new partnerships.
Private mobile networks provide a high level of reliability, flexibility, capacity, and security in a limited area (for example, an industrial complex, port, airport, research centre, transportation or distribution power network) and for a specific purpose, so they play a key role in the digitalisation of the economy. They introduce a completely new level of connectivity for businesses, supporting fast and stable device connectivity with a high level of responsiveness, which is essential for the implementation of advanced technologies, such as smart factories, the industrial internet of things (IIoT), advanced logistics centres, modern distribution and energy networks, and similar.
There are several different types of private mobile networks: a dedicated private mobile network can be established at the user's location with a unique network identity (PLMN ID), a combined private mobile network utilises the shared radio access network (RAN), where the control functions are in the public network, while data transmission takes place at the customer's location, and a virtual private mobile network is based on network slicing and uses a private APN, so that data is transmitted over the public network.