US telco Verizon Business and network vendor Nokia have won a contract to deploy multiple private 5G networks at Thames Freeport in the UK.

Thames Freeport is one of the UK's busiest shipping and logistics centers.

The networks will be deployed across multiple key logistics, manufacturing, and innovation sites along the River Thames Estuary, noted Verizon.

As part of the contract, Verizon will deploy 5G private networks to the DP World London Gateway and DP World Logistics Park, Port of Tilbury, and Ford Dagenham, the largest manufacturing site in London.

The networks will provide connectivity that enables Thames Freeport with AI, Edge compute, and IoT infrastructure.

This will support advanced data and application capabilities for AI-driven data analytics, predictive maintenance, process automation, autonomous vehicle control, safety monitoring, and real-time logistics orchestration

The planned deployments come as Thames Freeport is set to employ 5,000 people by the end of the decade.

Nokia will provide its hardware as part of its role in the deployment of the private networks. This will include its Automation Cloud (DAC) platform and Nokia MX Industrial Edge (MXIE).

"Our partnership with Thames Freeport and Nokia shows the full promise of private 5G at scale. Thames Freeport is developing one of the most technologically advanced commercial corridors in Europe to enable forward innovation and economic revitalization for an entire community,” said Jennifer Artley, SVP, 5G acceleration at Verizon Business.

Artley added that the private networks will help generate new revenue streams for businesses.

Verizon has previously deployed private 5G networks at ports in the US, including at the Port of Virginia in 2023. Other examples of its private 5G network deployments include a deployment at the veterans' hospital in Livermore, California.

Finnish vendor Nokia also has a track record for private networks. To date, the vendor has deployed private wireless networks for 890 customers globally. Earlier this month, Nokia announced a partnership with Andorix to ramp up the adoption of private 5G networks and neutral host networks in North America.

“Private wireless and industrial Edge are the foundations for the digital transformation of industrial sites, and the Thames Freeport deployment is a landmark example of this evolution at scale," added David de Lancellotti, VP of enterprise campus Edge sales at Nokia.

"This is one of the largest commercial private 5G rollouts in a European port incorporating the Nokia DAC platform. This network will allow Thames Freeport to overlay advanced use cases such as AI-driven data analytics, predictive maintenance, process automation, autonomous vehicle control, safety monitoring, and real-time logistics orchestration."