How Telia is Driving Private 5G Network at Skellefteå Hospital

Telia and Region Västerbotten are partnering on a new private 5G network at Skellefteå Hospital, one of northern Sweden’s largest healthcare facilities. The project will strengthen the hospital’s digital infrastructure while testing pioneering applications, such as drones that share real-time updates from accident scenes with ambulances and emergency departments. 

Thanks to 5G, staff in Skellefteå will be able to access information faster, including data-heavy scan and mammography images, when deciding on patient care interventions.

Running the hospital can also become more efficient – the network’s monitoring and analysis capabilities, together with smart sensors, can streamline energy usage and maintain indoor climate and water quality. 5G networks themselves use up to 10 times less energy than previous generations of mobile technology.

The hospital’s network will be connected to the specially designed 5G environment belonging to Telia and Ericsson’s NorthStar innovation program. Through NorthStar, organizations can utilize advanced connectivity and try out 5G solutions that are not yet commercially available.

Magnus Leonhardt, Telia’s Head of Strategy & Innovation for Swedish B2B customers: “This is an exciting and timely project that focuses on how new technologies like 5G can improve healthcare – something that affects us all. The region and the hospital can reinforce their infrastructure and test what 5G can do in reality, which opens up the possibility of broader use of connected digital solutions.” 

As usual with 5G, the network will boost security via stronger user authentication, encryption and data integrity. In addition, it will provide better redundancy in the event of incidents or crisis situations.

The 5G project at Skellefteå Hospital will run from the beginning of next year until the end of 2027. It has received more than SEK 50 million in support from the EU’s CEF2 Digital program, which aims to accelerate the development of digital infrastructure across Europe.

Telia Company is a Nordic and Baltic telecommunications leader and Nordic media house, serving consumers, businesses and public sector customers with essential digital infrastructure, ICT services and entertainment.