Question:
Ports are some of the most demanding industrial environments. What were the main operational challenges that convinced BCT to move from Wi-Fi to a private 5G solution?
Karlis Vilciņš (Head of Systems Integration Business, LMT):
Yes, they actually had a special project covering around 50 hectares, which is the total area of the container terminal.
They operate very efficiently and require strong, reliable connectivity everywhere. They had installed approximately 22 masts, each equipped with fiber-optic connections and electrical power, and every mast hosted Wi-Fi access points.
Even with this significant infrastructure, they still experienced coverage black spots across certain areas of the terminal. This created real operational issues — even downtime — for equipment like reach stackers, operators, and yard clerks.
Workers often shared humorous but telling examples: one operator mentioned, “I pick up the container, but then I lose the connection and don’t see where I’m supposed to bring it. So I drive around the yard trying to find coverage just to get the next instruction from the terminal operating center.”
It was a very real business and operational challenge, illustrating the limits of Wi-Fi and the critical need for consistent, high-performance connectivity, which ultimately led BCT to adopt private 5G.
