--- title: Upstream oil rig connectivity with private 5G and satellite backhaul date: 2026-07-23T16:11:00+10:00 author: Pradhyum canonical_url: "https://celona.io/resources/oil-rig-private-5g-satellite-backhaul" section: Resources --- / Case Study | Oil & gas | Oil Rig # Upstream oil rig connectivity with private 5G and satellite backhaul Voice and data for 80–100 crew at a remote desert rig with no carrier coverage — one AP, backhauled over satellite. ![Smart drilling](https://celona.io/volumes/images/Smart-drilling.png) 1 AP lights the whole remote rig site 80–100 workers connected across 30–40 trailers ~3 hrs to the nearest town — no carrier coverage Voice + data over private 5G where no service provider reaches / At a glance ## Connectivity where no carrier reaches. ### \_01 The Challenge - Remote exploration rig site ~3 hours from anywhere, no carrier coverage - Existing Wi-Fi didn't work; one trailer had very poor carrier signal - 80–100 workers across 2–3 shifts and 30–40 trailers - Harsh desert environment (52–53 °C) ### \_02 The Solution - Celona private 5G — one indoor/outdoor AP + Celona Edge on site - Radio mounted on the side of a trailer with a telescopic antenna - Satellite backhaul to reach the outside world - Voice over the private network — calls divert from the carrier SIM to Celona ### \_03 The Outcome - Reliable connectivity for onsite and remote calling - Improved worker productivity and operational efficiency - Better data gathering from the site - A morale and wellbeing boost for crews far from home Energy exploration happens where the resource is — often a remote desert site three hours from the nearest town, with nothing around it. A leading integrated energy producer runs exactly this kind of operation: a temporary camp of 30–40 trailers and all the rig machinery, staffed by 80–100 people across two or three shifts for the three to four months of an exploration campaign before the whole operation relocates. In 52–53 °C heat, cut off from the outside world, connectivity isn't a convenience — it's how work gets coordinated and how people stay in touch with home. ## No coverage, and no easy way to get it The site had no usable connectivity. Wi-Fi had been tried and didn't work, and no mobile carrier reached the location — a single trailer had a weak carrier signal at best. For a site this remote, satellite is effectively the only way to reach the outside world, which left the operation heavily dependent on a service provider it couldn't control, with no reliable onsite network for the crews' phones and devices. ## Private 5G on the edge, backhauled over satellite Celona delivered a self-contained private 5G site built around a single indoor/outdoor access point connected to a Celona Edge. The radio was mounted on the side of a trailer with a telescopic antenna to cover the camp and rig area, and satellite service carried backhaul to the outside world — the site is even managed remotely over that satellite link through the Celona Orchestrator. Crucially, the network carries voice: workers' iPhones run a primary carrier SIM plus a secondary Celona private-5G profile, so when there's no carrier coverage, calls divert onto the private network and go through. Spectrum (n77) was arranged with the local regulator to run the 5G radio. ![Celona Archi](https://celona.io/volumes/images/Resources/_2560x1109_fit_center-center_70_none_ffffff/53956/CelonaArchi.webp) ## The outcome For the first time, the site had reliable connectivity for both onsite and remote calling. That translated into better worker productivity and operational efficiency, better data gathering from the site — and, not to be understated, a real morale and wellbeing lift for crews working a hardship rotation far from home, now able to reliably reach the people and systems they need. ## What's next With the network in place, the operation is looking at putting more onto it: rugged handhelds, video cameras, and 5G CPE to connect IoT sensors — so site data that today only lives in the foreman's office can flow back to headquarters. And because the network is local and the data stays local, low-latency data can be processed on site for edge AI inference — running analytics right where the data is generated, without waiting on the satellite round-trip. And future sites can get even simpler. This deployment ran on an on-site Celona Edge; future deployments move to edgeless Celona AerFlex, where there's no on-site edge appliance at all — just the access point. That makes the model — private 5G plus satellite backhaul — a template for the producer's other remote rig sites, remote mining locations beyond oil and gas, and effectively any off-grid operation anywhere on the planet, with nothing to stand up on site beyond the AP. At a Glance Customer**Oil Rig** Vertical**Oil & gas** Facility**Temporary rig-well camp — 30–40 trailers; 3–4 month campaigns** Location**Remote desert exploration site, Saudi Arabia** Spectrum**n77 / private 5G** Solution - Celona private 5G — one indoor/outdoor AP (AP21/AP22, n77) - Celona Edge on site - Trailer-mounted radio + telescopic antenna - Satellite backhaul (via a satellite operator) - Voice over private 5G — carrier SIM + Celona secondary; calls divert to private - Remote management over satellite via Celona Orchestrator - Roadmap: edgeless Celona AerFlex on future sites — AP-only, no on-site edge - Roadmap: rugged handhelds, cameras, 5G CPE for IoT sensors / Related resources ## Go deeper More resources on private wireless for the enterprise. [Case Studies NEW ### Global data center hyperscaler needing deterministic wireless at a AI-dense server floor A global hyperscaler deployed Celona Orion private 5G across its server floors to give technicians reliable mobility in high-interference AI compute environments — while Wi-Fi continues to serve office and administrative spaces. Data centers · Jul 2026 ](https://celona.io/resources/global-data-center-needs-deterministic-wireless-amidst-rf-interference) [Installation Guide NEW ### Celona AP25-48 installation guide Data centers · Warehousing & logistics · Jul 2026 ](https://celona.io/resources/celona-ap25-48-installation-guide) [Data Sheet NEW ### WAP14 data sheet High-density enterprise Wi-Fi 7, unified with Private 5G through the Celona Orion platform. Data centers · Warehousing & logistics · Jul 2026 ](https://celona.io/resources/wap14-data-sheet) [Access all Resources ](https://celona.io/resources) / Next step ## See what Celona Orion can do for your plant Talk to the team behind Del Conca's deployment, or take the platform for a spin. [ Request a demo → ](https://celona.io/contact-us) [ Explore the platform → ](https://celona.io/manufacturing)