Port of Helsinki and Elisa signed a letter of intent this month for making 5G technology available to ship passengers in Helsinki’s West Harbour.
The aim is to make a commercial 5G network available in the interior facilities of West Terminal 2 and the outdoor areas of West Harbour during autumn 2019. At the same time, the companies are in the process of developing a suitable operating model for building indoor 5G coverage in Helsinki’s other passenger terminals.
– The purpose of this cooperation is to improve passengers’ mobile connections, particularly in terminals. This is a major stepping stone for us in the more widespread adoption of 5G technology at the Port’s terminals, states CEO at Port of Helsinki Ville Haapasaari.
– The development of 5G services and the building of the network for various needs is immensely fascinating. Helsinki’s West Terminal serves millions of passengers a year, and waiting for your ship to depart is more fun if you can watch TV shows or play games to pass the time. 5G guarantees lightning fast connections for these types of needs, says Director, Mobile Solutions Eetu Prieur from Elisa.
New services based on passenger feedback
– We will be working together with the Port of Helsinki to find out what kind of services made possible by this new technology would be of interest to the ship passengers visiting the terminal and how customer-specific private networks could be utilised for the Port of Helsinki’s own applications, Prieur continues.
5G is the next generation of mobile networking and up to ten times faster than 4G. Devices utilising the 5G network offer numerous benefits to users, such as being able to play and download videos, games, movies and large files faster than ever. With the development of new services, 5G may very well revolutionise the way we use and utilise mobile networks and devices. 5G will also facilitate and enable increased automation, robotisation and the use of remote-controlled devices. In addition to all this, 5G will enable the setting up of company-specific, tailored network solutions, i.e. private networks, and expand the Internet of Things to new places.
Helsinki’s West Harbour is Finland’s busiest passenger harbour with over 7 million annual passengers. It is used primarily for fast liner traffic to Estonia, serving passengers, passenger car traffic and goods traffic. The West Harbour also has a regular connection to St Petersburg.
The Port of Helsinki is Finland’s leading general port for foreign trade as well as the busiest passenger port in Europe. The Port of Helsinki serves the business world and well-being of the Helsinki region and the whole country and has significant positive effects related to the economy and employment. In 2018, a total of 12.1 million passengers passed through the Port of Helsinki and 14.7 million tonnes of goods were transported via the Port. The turnover of Port of Helsinki Ltd was 97 million euros. www.portofhelsinki.fi/en
Elisa is a pioneer in telecommunications and digital services. We serve approximately 2.8 million consumer, corporate and public administration organisation customers, and have over 6.2 million subscriptions in our extensive network. Cooperation with Vodafone and Telenor, among others, enables globally competitive services. Our core markets are Finland and Estonia, and we also provide digital services for international markets. Elisa’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki. In 2018, our revenue was EUR 1.83 billion euros, and we employed 4,800 people. As a responsible Finnish market leader, our operations are guided by continuous improvement. Further information on www.elisa.com, Facebook (@elisasuomi) and Twitter (@ElisaOyj)
More information:
CEO Ville Haapasaari, Port of Helsinki
ville.haapasaari(at)portofhelsinki.fi
tel. +358 (0)40 709 8798
Director, Mobile Solutions Eetu Prieur, Elisa
eetu.prieur(at)elisa.fi
tel. +358 (0)50 506 5313