Oxfordshire County Council has chosen Vodafone to build and manage a 5G stand-alone (5G SA) mobile private network (MPN) at Harwell Science and Innovation Campus.

Harwell, on the outskirts of Oxford, became the site of a new national quantum laboratory in October. The new laboratory will host the National Quantum Computer Centre, and will be home to twelve new quantum computers.

Since the 1940s, Harwell has been home to UK atomic and thermonuclear research. It hosts the UK fusion reactor research site. Harwell is five miles from Culham, home of the UK Atomic Energy Authority and chosen in January as the first UK national AI Growth Zone by the UK Government. Harwell also hosts the UK home of the European Space Agency.

The MPN will provide enhanced wireless 5G connectivity to the various technology laboratories, start-ups and research institutions based on the campus, by delivering high speed, low latency and high bandwidth wireless connectivity.

Once in place, the network will unlock the full capabilities of Internet of Things (IoT) devices. It will allow greater real-time control of production and seamless handover of internet protocol traffic, such as during voice and video calls, as people move from one building to another.

In doing so, on-site organisations will be better equipped to tackle some of today’s most pressing challenges across advanced manufacturing, transport logistics, energy and healthcare. This includes the European Space Agency, which selected Vodafone to work as part of a consortium to create a 5G/6G Hub on Harwell Campus in 2023.

Because the network is private and secure, it allows these companies to tap into specialised custom services that would not be feasible on a public network. This could include asset tracking, drone detection, machine-to-machine connectivity, condition monitoring and various augmented and virtual reality applications.

The decision has been made on behalf of England’s Connected Heartland (ECH). As part of the UK Government’s 5G Innovation Region programme, ECH brings together five local authorities – Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Central Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire – to speed up the adoption of advanced wireless technology.

The announcement follows Vodafone being recognised as a Leader in the inaugural 2025 Gartner Magic Quadrant for 4G and 5G Private Mobile Network Services.