Telia Norway struck a deal with the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency to deploy a private 5G network for military use, prioritising secure use of data for the country’s armed forces.

In a statement, the operator said the private network will be designed to operate separately from its national 5G network, as it aims to build a “secure, resilient, and flexible” private communication channel.

Telia, which claims it was the first in Norway to launch private networks for enterprise and private sector customers, will look specifically at ensuring data generated from the armed forces is kept separate from other traffic in the public mobile network and be given priority, utilising the network slicing use case.

In addition, the private infrastructure will have greater encryption than the national public network, which already has security measures including SIM authentication of all devices, encryption of traffic, and licensed radio spectrum.

Eiliv Ofigsbo, head of CIS division at the Norwegian Defense Materiel Agency said: “Secure communication is a requirement for the armed forces, both in times of peace and crisis, and it is our task at the Defense Materiel Agency to deliver systems that make this possible. It is important that we consider new technologies such as 5G.”