Verizon completed a five-site private 5G deployment across Thames Freeport in southeast England. Nokia supplied the hardware and software, including its Digital Automation Cloud private wireless platform and MX Industrial Edge computing platform (via rcrwireless.com).
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Sites | 5 |
| Announcement | June 2025 |
| Completion target | First half of 2027 |
| Private investment | More than £2.13 billion (≈ $2.85 billion) since 2021 |
| Potential investment | £4.9 billion (≈ $6.57 billion) |
| Potential jobs | Up to 28,000 by 2045 |
Network design across five industrial sites
The deployment covers DP World London Gateway, DP World Logistics Park, Ford Dagenham, and two locations at the Port of Tilbury. Each tenant network operates on an independent core to provide data sovereignty for the organizations using the infrastructure.
The network is intended to support AI-based physical analysis, computer vision, asset tracking, predictive maintenance, edge computing, and worker safety. Those are operational use cases, not just coverage metrics.
Nokia’s ECE unit stays in frame
Nokia agreed last month to sell its Enterprise Campus Edge unit to private equity firm Aurelius, and the sale is expected to complete in the first half of 2027. This project is another public reference for that business while the transaction moves toward closing.
Verizon Business vice president of the 5G acceleration business Robb Juliano said the Thames Freeport deployment is a reference point for the scalability of private 5G across complex industrial sites. Thames Freeport innovation and skills director Tom White said the deployment gives the key sites a platform to innovate while continuing live industrial operations.
What it means for U.S. buyers
For U.S. multi-site retailers, fleet operators, and enterprise network teams, the relevant decision is whether private 5G is being used as a site-by-site architecture with separate cores rather than a single shared setup. The Thames Freeport build also shows that the network can be tied to operational applications such as asset tracking, predictive maintenance, and worker safety, which are the kinds of requirements that often drive carrier and architecture choices.
Droam Perspective
For enterprise buyers comparing private cellular options, the key signal is that Verizon is presenting a multi-site industrial deployment with independent tenant cores and a defined application pipeline. Nokia’s ECE unit is still visible in the market through this project even as the sale to Aurelius moves toward completion, which leaves the hardware and software stack in transition but not out of the picture.
Dollar amounts marked ≈ are approximate conversions at reference rates (£1 = $1.34).