Telenor Norway has announced a contract worth NOK 90 million to provide a 5G network to the Southern and Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority (Helse Sor-Ost). The upper limit of the contract is NOK 400 million. Telenor will supply indoor mobile coverage for new and existing hospital buildings to benefit staff, patients and visitors, to secure critical services, and to enable new capabilities.

Helse Sor-Ost will carry out a number of construction projects with significant technology investments by 2030. They include a new clinic and proton building at Radiumhospitalet and a new infirmary in Drammen. Telenor will be responsible for the development. The regional health authorityā€™s ICT, logistics, personnel and projects division, Sykehuspartner, will be responsible for integration.

Birgitte Engebretsen, head of Telenor Norway, said medical equipment is very dependent on a stable and fast internet connection. A reliable indoor 4G and 5G network in hospitals will act as an alternative carrier to Wi-Fi for data traffic. At the same time, 5G will play an important role in innovation in the healthcare sector.

The mobile coverage from Telenor will support health logistics for deployment at Helse Sor-Ost medical enterprises. Wi-Fi will be the primary carrier service, with mobile reception acting as a secondary carrier. Telenor will support redundant carriage for critical internal services with low latency requirements, such as telephony, alarms and notifications. The network will also enable IoT and M2M communications.

The mobile phone will become a more useful tool in everyday life, improving the flow of patient treatment and of logistics, and cutting time spent on administration in favour of patient treatment.

Hanne Tangen Nilsen, CEO at Sykehuspartner, said modern mobile coverage will enable new capabilities such as remote surgery, positioning, and robotic services.

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