Organisations including Siemens and the European Space Agency (ESA) looked set to benefit from a Vodafone UK deal to deploy a private 5G network at a campus focused on science and innovation.

Vodafone stated Siemens and the ESA are two of the organisations located in the Harwell Science and Innovation Park, which also houses various technology laboratories, start-up companies and research outfits.

It explained the dedicated standalone (SA) 5G network would deliver high-speed, low-latency and high-bandwidth connectivity.

The local county council awarded Vodafone the contract as part of broader national government goals to advance wireless connectivity.

Vodafone declined to assign a value to the deal.

Instead, the operator pointed to various private 5G benefits, including a promise to “unlock the full potential of IoT devices”, in turn boosting “real-time control of production processes”.

Vodafone also flagged the potential to ensure continuity of connectivity, highlighting uninterrupted voice and video calls when people are moving between buildings.

And it pointed to a bump in security, explaining the private 5G network would offer access to specialist services not possible on public infrastructure, including M2M connectivity “drone detection, and AR and VR applications”.