Vertical: Healthcare
Application: Voice communications, alerts, patient logistics, medication delivery
Ecosystem: Magenta Telekom, CANCOM Austria
Private Network: 5G
Gesundheit Burgenland has pioneered Austria’s healthcare communications landscape by implementing the country’s first hospital-wide 5G network. The initiative began at the new Oberwart clinic in May 2024, quickly expanding to facilities in Kittsee, Güssing, Oberpullendorf, and the headquarters in Eisenstadt in subsequent months.
This technological advancement positions Gesundheit Burgenland among a select few European healthcare providers operating dedicated 5G campus networks. While similar deployments exist in Oulu, Finland and Leipzig, Germany, this implementation represents a significant step forward for Austrian healthcare infrastructure.
The new private 5G network has completely replaced traditional pagers and DECT telephony across Burgenland’s healthcare facilities. Medical professionals now carry smartphone-like devices that handle all voice communications and emergency alerts through the secure, independent network.
“With this solution, we are ideally positioned for future requirements and technological challenges – both in terms of internal communication and for new digital procedures, processes and apps that can be used in hospital operations in the future,” explains Harald Binder, IT Director at Gesundheit Burgenland.
The deployment offers numerous forward-looking benefits. Hospital administrators envision the network supporting enhanced logistics operations, from patient transport to medication delivery, while simultaneously improving patient care and safety protocols.
Franz Öller, Commercial Director of Gesundheit Burgenland, highlights the strategic advantages: “The hospital of the future will be based on an independent 5G campus network that offers maximum data security on the one hand and enables innovative healthcare on the other, for example through AI-supported diagnoses that require huge amounts of data to be processed in the shortest possible time.”
To implement this vision, Gesundheit Burgenland partnered with Magenta Telekom and CANCOM Austria to build a fully independent private mobile network. Unlike public cellular infrastructure, this dedicated system delivers highly available voice and data services specifically engineered for healthcare environments.
The implementation emphasizes redundancy and security. Werner Kraus, Managing Director for Magenta’s business customer segment, describes it as “a tailor-made solution for Gesundheit Burgenland. The hospital network has dual redundancy and continues to run even in the event of a power or technical failure.”
Particularly noteworthy is the network’s on-premise management approach. Gesundheit Burgenland’s in-house IT department maintains complete control over the system, addressing critical data protection requirements for sensitive healthcare information.
Thomas Brezina, Director Healthcare at CANCOM Austria, emphasizes the practical benefits for staff: “Instead of the DECT technology that has been tried and tested for decades, we are relying on a forward-looking solution in which all users such as doctors, nursing staff and technicians only need a single end device with the applications required for hospital operations. This makes work much more mobile and flexible for users.”
