Ericsson, Three Ireland and Glanbia launch first indoor 5G network to boost Irish manufacturing

Ericsson has partnered with Three Ireland and Glanbia, a global leader in agriculture and nutrition, to launch Ireland’s first indoor 5G campus network in a live manufacturing environment.

The indoor 5G network, inside the multi-purpose dairy processing plant at Glanbia Ireland’s facility in Ballyragget, County Kilkenny, will bring enhanced indoor 5G coverage, low latency connectivity and improved data security across Glanbia’s largest Irish plant. The 5G solution will enable faster and more accurate maintenance tasks and provide for richer analysis of plant processes, helping to reduce manual administration and boost manufacturing efficiency.

5G radio coverage will be provided by the industry-leading Ericsson Radio Dot System and combined with Three Ireland’s 5G spectrum, Glanbia will trial bespoke 5G use cases, including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) applications, and test how 5G can provide enhanced indoor connectivity for their wider production facilities.

John Griffin, CEO at Ericsson Ireland, said: “5G offers the biggest ever potential platform for innovation and this exciting strategic partnership between Three Ireland, Ericsson and Glanbia will unlock the real value of Industry 4.0 for Ireland’s manufacturing sector. From enabling true digital transformation to helping boost productivity and creating operational efficiencies, 5G can provide the foundation for Ireland to revolutionise critical industries and lead the way for future innovation and economic growth.”

Karl Duffy, Head of Enterprise and Public Sector at Three Ireland, said: “The bespoke opportunities and insights which 5G can provide to organisations and sectors is really exciting to us at Three Ireland, delivering a real step-change from 4G. We are delighted to partner with Glanbia Ireland and Ericsson on this initiative. This is the first indoor 5G network of its kind in Ireland and will deliver real efficiencies for Glanbia. The opportunity is there for companies of all sizes to create a pilot and scale over time. The companies that act now will achieve first mover advantage within their sector which can’t be underestimated.”

Brian Farrell, Engineering Manager at Glanbia Ireland, Ballyragget, said: “We’re delighted to be involved in this ground-breaking initiative with Three Ireland and Ericsson. It’s allowing us to bring to life some of the early learnings from our participation in an EU funded Horizon 2020 5G project. It emphasizes the importance of networks as an enabler for Digital Industrial Transformation and it will accelerate the trial and adoption of some innovative Industry 4.0 use cases for us.”

Ericsson and Three Ireland first launched 5G together in 2020 and this next stage in their strong partnership will demonstrate how 5G can be utilised in Irish manufacturing to develop further enterprise use cases, which in time can be applied across a range of sectors. Both companies are already working together to develop next-generation 5G consumer use cases through the global Ericsson Startup 5G program.