ESB Networks completes process for development of private mobile network
We are excited to share this press release from our member, ESB. Nokia, one of the vendors mentioned in the release, is also a member of the 450 MHz Alliance.
- Company to work with Sigma Wireless Communications and Nokia to supply and install LTE core network and radio access network
- The 4G-equivilent mobile network will be an important infrastructural development to enable the delivery of ESB Networks’ “Networks for Net Zero” Strategy and the Government’s Climate Action Plan.
Issued: 19 May 2023
ESB Networks announces that it has completed a process to award a contract for the development of a private mobile network. Sigma Wireless Communications will work with Nokia to supply and install the new LTE Core Network and Radio Access Network over a three-year period, with the network expected to be live from Q4 2023.
This follows from a 2019 decision by ComReg to award a 15-year licence for radio spectrum to ESB Networks. In its recently published Networks for Net Zero strategy, ESB Networks set out ambitious plans to develop the electricity network of the future which will be supported by a dedicated smart-grid telecommunication system.
Nicholas Tarrant, ESB Networks Managing Director, welcomed the development: “An ever-smarter and agile electricity network is key to delivery of a more sustainable future, with the customer at its core. The purpose-built private telecommunications network now being developed will be a key enabler in delivering integration of renewable energy to the grid, decarbonisation of the electricity network and the electrification of heat and transport amongst other benefits. As such, this private, reliable and secure mobile network will be an indispensable precursor to delivering a Net Zero-ready electricity network.”