5G campus network for Merseburg University of Applied Sciences

• Deutsche Telekom equips university with first 5G campus network in the region
• Digital Minister Dr. Lydia Hüskens on the launch: "5G opens up new digital possibilities: Significant contribution to the success of the regional structural change process"
• 5G standalone technology and local network infrastructure ensure security and maximum 5G performance

5G for innovation and research: Merseburg University of Applied Sciences today commissioned a private 5G campus network together with Dr. Lydia Hüskens, Minister for Infrastructure and Digital Affairs of Saxony-Anhalt. The network is part of the state's investment in modern and future-proof digital infrastructures in the region undergoing structural change and is also the first 5G campus network in the region. This university's own 5G network was implemented by Deutsche Telekom, which won out over several competitors in a Europe-wide tendering process. The costs for construction and operation over seven years amount to around 1 million euros. 

Minister Dr. Lydia Hüskens said at the launch ceremony as part of the Merseburg Digital Days: "Attractive living spaces only work with well-developed digital infrastructures. We are working flat out to create attractive structures throughout Saxony-Anhalt so that people can settle here and companies can be established or continue to grow. In this way, we are creating an incentive for further companies to settle here, increasing the quality of life for citizens and at the same time ensuring good digital framework conditions. Of course, this also includes 5G mobile communications, which opens up new digital opportunities for businesses and private users." The investment at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences will contribute significantly to the success of the structural change process.

5G research for innovative applications in industry and business

The new network will enable the university to research 5G applications, such as autonomous driving, logistics applications, applications for industry and the healthcare sector or augmented reality. In addition to the university, the adjacent Merseburg Innovation and Technology Center (MITZ) will also benefit from the investment. Both companies and researchers are working there on joint projects from a wide range of disciplines. A 5G campus network has also been implemented there so that the companies based there can also test 5G applications. 

Prof. Dr. Markus Krabbes, Rector of Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, thanked all those involved at the launch and said: "The new 5G campus network is an important building block within Merseburg University's 'MerInnoCampus' development strategy. As a testing ground for smart solutions, this modern network supports new services that can be used in operational automation, for infrastructure control and for the real-time transmission of media signals. All of this opens up new opportunities for innovative projects and research applications and helps to further intensify the transfer between teaching, research and practice in the field of digital future technologies."

State-of-the-art 5G coverage for 30,000 square meters of university campus

At Merseburg University of Applied Sciences and MITZ, Deutsche Telekom is using the "Campus-Netz Private" business customer solution - with state-of-the-art 5G standalone technology (5G SA) and technology from Ericsson. The entire 5G campus network covers an area of around 30,000 square meters and operates both "outdoor" and "indoor". Five powerful outdoor antennas, 12 indoor antennas on the third and fourth floors of the university's main building and 32 indoor antennas in the MITZ ensure a highly available network. The 5G network uses industrial frequencies reserved specifically for the university in the 3.7 to 3.8 gigahertz range. These are allocated by the Federal Network Agency upon application. This means that researchers and companies have exclusive access to up to 100 megahertz of bandwidth.
 
"With Telekom's new 5G campus network, the university and the state have created the best conditions to further advance the transfer of innovation between research and practice in the field of digitalization and future technologies," says Linus Schade, State Policy Representative for Saxony-Anhalt at Telekom. "The city of Merseburg has been an important 5G test area for Deutsche Telekom for years. For example, the first pure 5G phone call on Deutsche Telekom's network was made here in 2021. With the new campus network based on state-of-the-art 5G standalone technology, we are continuing this successful 5G innovation story in Merseburg."

Own network infrastructure offers high security and maximum 5G performance 

The 5G SA campus network at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences operates independently of Telekom's public mobile network. All infrastructure components, from the antennas and active system technology to gateways and the network server, are housed directly on campus. This means that all data traffic remains within the local network, which enables particularly secure and fast data processing. The short transmission paths of the independent 5G architecture support data-intensive applications with extremely low response times in the millisecond range. 

5G indoor positioning in use for the first time: real-time positioning 

Another special feature of the university's campus network: at MITZ, Deutsche Telekom is making 5G positioning available to a customer indoors for the first time beyond the test operation. The innovative technology makes it possible to determine the position of objects in real time: important, for example, for material replenishment in production halls and warehouses. This makes production and logistics processes more efficient and easier to plan. Using Ericsson's positioning solution, which is based on the 3GPP standard, researchers at MITZ will evaluate further future-oriented applications for and with industry.

Merseburg Digital Days

The Merseburg Digital Days take place annually at Merseburg University of Applied Sciences and are aimed at politics, administration, business and science. This year, the days will take place from August 28 - 29 under the motto: "Smart City and Digital Administration - We're leading the way!". Further information: www.merseburger-digitaltage.de (German only)

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