Ford signs deal with Vodafone for private 5G network in UK EV facility
Ford Motor Co has signed a deal with Vodafone Group Plc to install a private 5G network at the car maker's electric-vehicle (EV) battery facility in UK's Essex, the companies said in a joint statement on Thursday.
The project is part of a 65-million-pound ($80.87 million) investment in 5G backed by the UK government, according to Ford and Vodafone, and would be among the first of its kind in Britain.
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The private 5G network at Ford's facility will replace older Wi-Fi networks and help speed up the production of EV components, according to the companies.
"For a single EV product, this could generate more than a half a million pieces of data every minute", the statement said, adding that the upgrade will provide faster and more accurate manufacturing control and analysis.
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Earlier this week, Toyota Production Engineering Corporation selected Finland's Nokia Oyj to install an industrial-grade 5G private wireless network at its manufacturing design center in Fukuoka, Japan.
