LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Three Group Solutions has successfully completed the deployment of a private 5G network across Hutchison Ports’ UK facilities at the Port of Felixstowe, Harwich International Port, and London Thamesport. The initiative creates one of the most advanced industrial connectivity platforms in the country, providing the foundation for automation, remote monitoring, and a wide range of digital applications essential to modern port operations.
The network delivers ultra-reliable, high-capacity, low-latency connectivity designed to support large-scale automation, including autonomous trucks, remotely controlled cranes, and other data-intensive applications. By connecting the three major ports under a single 5G architecture, Hutchison Ports strengthens operational resilience, enhances efficiency, and reinforces safety while supporting long-term sustainability goals.
“Felixstowe, Harwich, and Thamesport now have a dedicated 5G foundation for the next decade of innovation,” said Graham Wilde, Head of Private Networks at Three Group Solutions. “This project demonstrates how private 5G, delivered and managed at industrial scale, can combine resilience, performance, and flexibility. We look forward to helping Hutchison Ports build on this success across the UK and beyond.”
Implementing a mission-critical 5G network within a live port environment required careful planning. Three Group Solutions deployed the 5G network in parallel with the existing 4G system, using separate blocks of radio spectrum to avoid interference. Assets were migrated in controlled phases, allowing both networks to operate simultaneously and ensuring uninterrupted operations throughout the upgrade.
“When you are dealing with connectivity that keeps the country’s largest container port moving, you cannot simply turn one network off and another on,” Wilde said. “By running the 4G and 5G systems in parallel, we achieved a smooth transition with no disruption to daily operations.”
A central driver for the 5G deployment is Hutchison Ports’ plan to introduce autonomous electric trucks at the Port of Felixstowe, replacing a significant portion of the diesel fleet. These vehicles require continuous connectivity, ultra-low latency for remote intervention, and the bandwidth to support multiple live video feeds. While the existing 4G system reliably supported work instructions on tablets, it was not designed for large-scale autonomous operations. The new private 5G network provides the performance, predictability, and scalability necessary for next-generation port automation.
“Automation in ports is not about replacing people; it’s about transforming roles,” Wilde explained. “Jobs become safer, more varied, and more attractive, helping ports recruit and retain the skilled workforce needed for the future.”
The private 5G platform features dual cores, overlapping radio coverage, and diverse inter-site links, all within Hutchison Ports’ cybersecurity perimeter. It is engineered for resilience, maintaining operations even if individual towers or sites are offline for maintenance or faults.
While autonomous horizontal transport is the initial application, the network is designed to support a wide range of future innovations. Potential use cases include remote operation of additional machinery, predictive maintenance sensors, drones for inspection and environmental monitoring, and real-time data integration into digital twins of port operations.
“The capability of the new network means that future possibilities are limited only by imagination,” Wilde added.
Three Group Solutions, part of CKH Innovations Opportunities Development (CKH IOD), delivers wholesale, enterprise, and IoT solutions leveraging CK Hutchison’s global mobile and partner networks. CK Hutchison operates mobile networks in eleven markets worldwide, supporting over 175 million connections.
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