umlaut, a global, cross-industry full-service company providing technology and organizational consulting and implementation services to customers around the world, is installing its first 5G campus network at its headquarters location in Aachen, Germany.
This 5G standalone network uses 100 MHz of C-Band spectrum and leverages virtualized architecture to deliver flexibility and scalability. As announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the project is being done in collaboration with Airspan, a US-based provider of ground-breaking, disruptive software and hardware for 5G networks and a pioneer in end-to-end Open RAN solutions, Druid Software, a global leader in 4G/5G private cellular technology.
The 5G campus network is to be a foundation for engineering studies and collaborative testing of a variety of pioneering applications in areas including logistics, manufacturing, health & life, utilities and many other industries arising from umlaut’s and its customers’ fields of activity. The advantage: teaming with umlaut, customers will have a well-defined, flexible set-up for realizing their application scenarios in conjunction with umlaut’s end-to-end domain knowledge – and without the hassle or requirement to apply for a license and building their own network. For companies that do have the assets to build their own private network, they can still benefit from umlaut’s services to help design, deploy, optimize and operate their network. They can train and familiarize themselves in private network management techniques and processes.
Airspan will provide its end-to-end Open RAN suite of indoor and outdoor solutions, including software and hardware, as part of umlaut’s disruptive network to validate multiple 5G use cases and applications related to private networks. Airspan was recognized last month with an award for excellence and innovation for the fourth consecutive year by the Small Cell Forum, for its groundbreaking work partnering with Rakuten Mobile and Qualcomm to power Rakuten’s mobile network, which was recognized as the world’s first fully-virtualized, software-driven mobile network leveraging millimeter wave (mmWave) Open RAN small cell architecture.
umlaut has been awarded with a private 5G spectrum license with a bandwidth of 100 MHz in the so-called C-Band block. This largest possible spectrum assignment is meeting or even exceeding the requirements of all the test scenarios described and clearly paves the way into a digital era. umlaut recently published a white paper on C-Band Spectrum.
Hakan Ekmen, Global CEO Telecommunication at umlaut
With our 5G campus network, we can test a wide variety of industrial applications and scenarios which provide real value for our customers. We will provide them with tangible, reliable results to help them develop their 5G strategies and proof of concepts, in the perfect test environment, saving the cost of building and operating their own 5G test beds. umlaut will also support our customers in creating their own tailor-made environment from planning license application for network rollout, launch and optimization and managed operation of our clients’ private networks.
Liam Kenny, CEO of Druid Software
We are delighted to support umlaut as they pioneer 5G standalone capability for enterprise innovation in the German market. umlaut is ideally positioned with the enterprise slicing capabilities of the Druid RaemisTM 5G NGC and Airspan’s ORAN solution to address the business-critical needs of Industry.
