Deutsche Telekom enables 5G campus network for PCK Raffinerie

The PCK Raffinerie Schwedt is being brought up to date: In the coming months, Deutsche Telekom will install two new cell towers and the latest technology on the 13 square kilometer site – the size of over 1,800 soccer fields.

The connection to a redundant and secure power supply guarantees 5G coverage for the employees. In future, the 1,200 PCK Raffinerie employees and around 2,000 employees working for the 80 companies also based on the company site will benefit from improved connectivity.

To begin with, the entire 5G network will be provided on the 2.1 GHz frequency. This will be assisted via the expansion and integration of five nearby cell sites. The control room for the entire refinery site will be equipped with special in-house antennas. This building is pressure and explosion-proof. Here, the network build-out must meet particularly high security requirements.

Failure safety for critical infrastructure

All network components will be connected in a redundant and crisis-proof manner via a two-way system. This ensures that the mobile communications network on the refinery site is particularly failsafe. Furthermore, Deutsche Telekom guarantees PCK Raffinery an almost complete availability of the entire campus network. Maintenance contracts are in place for all technical components. PCK Raffinerie has been guaranteed fault clearance and service times for defined incident categories.

As Josef Maily, Managing Director at PCK Raffinerie GmbH, explains: “The 5G campus with our partner, Deutsche Telekom, is a significant step in expanding and accelerating digital processes in our refinery. In future, our central control center – where the refinery processes are managed – will be equipped with the latest mobile communications technology. The expansion of our company makes improving the mobile coverage a real challenge.”

Hagen Rickmann, Director for Business Customers at Telekom Deutschland GmbH, explains: “Together with PCK, we are building the currently largest campus network in Germany. Our 5G campus network solutions are suitable for various industries and applications. Particularly when it comes to critical infrastructure such as a refinery, the customer must be able to count on having reliable and, above all, secure networks.

In future, PCK Raffinerie will use the campus network to monitor and manage technological and maintenance processes more efficiently. Respective IoT solutions using the 5G infrastructure are also planned. Deutsche Telekom intends to complete the project by October 2022.