On-demand private 5G: a portable network for disasters

When earthquakes, floods, or wildfires disrupt public infrastructure, deploying an on-demand private 5G network is the fastest way to restore critical connectivity. Emergency response teams need reliable communications, drones must transmit live video, and command centers require uninterrupted data streams to coordinate operations when conventional telecom networks fail.

Emergency Services rely on deployable network units, often called cells on wheels, to restore coverage after a disaster. Industry data suggests a standard unit can be operational within a few hours of arriving on site, sometimes less if terrain and access allow it.

That is a meaningful improvement over rebuilding fixed infrastructure, but it still depends on a vehicle reaching the area, on roads being open, and on a crew having enough space to raise a mast. In a disaster zone, none of those conditions can be taken for granted.

An on-demand private 5G network is, in practice, a network an organization brings with it and switches on wherever needed, without relying on a public telecom operator. The core idea is portability paired with independence. The equipment, sometimes compact enough to fit in a case, provides its own radio coverage and its own control plane, so the people running the response are not depending on a commercial carrier's priority list during a crisis.

To manage these operational priorities internally, the system relies on network slicing, a capability that allows a single physical 5G infrastructure to be partitioned into independent virtual networks with guaranteed service levels. In a disaster scenario, this means rescue vehicles, drones, and sensor data can each get a dedicated slice of bandwidth, so a spike in public device traffic in the area does not crowd out the connection a rescue team depends on.

Ground based portable units solve part of the problem, but not all of it. Some areas are simply not reachable by vehicle in the first hours after a disaster, and this is where drones start to matter.

A Flying Ad-Hoc Network (FANET) is an airborne communication system formed by interconnected drones acting as mobile 5G base stations (gNodeBs). Research led by Professor Giovanni Schembra at the University of Catania, in collaboration with SMA-RTY, demonstrates how FANETs deliver airborne private 5G coverage, edge computing, and data storage directly to isolated disaster zones.

The collaboration currently spans three parallel projects: a fixed private 5G network covering the university campus, a portable version carried in a case designed to bring connectivity to hard-to-reach areas lacking coverage, such as Mount Etna, and a drone network designed to extend private 5G services, connectivity, storage, and edge computing to whatever is on the ground below.

The direction this research is taking is particularly relevant for disaster response. The objective is not only to connect drones to an existing network, but to allow them to become part of the communication infrastructure itself, effectively acting as airborne 5G base stations (gNodeBs). As multiple drones cooperate, they can form resilient aerial networks that dynamically extend coverage into isolated or inaccessible areas.

This concept is closely related to Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB), where wireless nodes simultaneously provide user access while relaying traffic through the network, enabling coverage to expand without relying entirely on fixed infrastructure.

In practice, this means that connectivity no longer has to wait for roads to be reopened or equipment to be transported into the affected area. A network that can be deployed from the air can provide communication services where they are needed most, significantly reducing the time required to restore mission-critical connectivity.

Coverage alone does not guarantee that the right traffic gets through. This is where slicing becomes practical rather than theoretical. During a large scale emergency, several categories of traffic compete for the same limited bandwidth: coordination calls, live drone video, sensor telemetry, and, more often than not, a surge of personal device traffic from the affected population itself.

Assigning a dedicated slice to rescue operations means that surge does not come at the expense of the response. This pattern is already showing up in public safety deployments elsewhere, where some agencies separate police, fire, medical, and drone traffic into distinct guaranteed lanes rather than treating all traffic as equal.

It is a reminder that the value of a private network is not only where it can go, but how intelligently it allocates what it carries once it gets there.

In this interview, Professor Giovanni Schembra explains the research behind airborne private 5G networks, FANETs, and their role in future emergency communications.

When operations move into areas the network is gone, damaged, or simply was never there to begin with, the practical question is not whether private 5G is technically possible. It more often than not is. The real question is how quickly it can be brought online, how far it can reach once ground access is limited, and whether it can prioritize the traffic that actually decides an outcome.

This matters not only for civil protection agencies. Utility operators, infrastructure owners, defense organizations, and industrial companies working in remote environments face similar challenges whenever reliable communications cannot be taken for granted.

On-demand deployment, aerial extension through drones, and network slicing are three different answers to the same underlying constraint: time.

The research SMA-RTY is carrying out with the University of Catania is one indication of how these pieces are coming together in practice, not only in a lab. If your organization coordinates emergency response, disaster recovery, or operations where infrastructure cannot be assumed, this is worth a closer look.