The Finnish vendor says the 5G standalone (SA) solutions are available now for “the most demanding industrial and manufacturing use cases”.
Nokia claims it offers customers the most comprehensive end-to-end portfolio of 4.9G/LTE and 5G private wireless networking solutions.
Since the first quarter of 2020, Nokia has carried out in situ trials of the solutions with customers and mobile operator partners: Nokia has more than 180 private wireless enterprise customers worldwide, more than 30 of the engagements involve 5G.
It highlighted Germany, Japan and the UK as likely early markets, due to local 5G spectrum availability, and highlighted recently announced 5G private wireless deployments with Deutsche Bahn, Lufthansa Technik and Toyota Production Engineering.
Automated Cloud
With Nokia’s 5G SA solutions, enterprise customers have the choice of deploying Nokia Digital Automation Cloud – which the vendor describes as a, plug-and-play system with automation enablers – or they can customise their network using Nokia Modular Private Wireless.
The vendor announced today that Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology will deploy a Nokia 5G SA private wireless network at its test mine in Tampere, Finland (pictured).
Patrick Murphy, President, Rock Drills and Technologies, Sandvik Mining and Rock Technology said, “By deploying a Nokia 5G SA private wireless network with Nokia Digital Automation Cloud, we can showcase an entirely new range of game-changing capabilities here in our Tampere test mine.
“As we work with our customers to help them leverage technology to digitalise their operations, the introduction of 5G opens the door to new opportunities in robotics, remote and autonomous operations, full-fleet automation, analytics and enhanced safety. As such, it comprises a breakthrough in the digital transformation of mining.”
Secrets of success
Pablo Tomasi, Principal Analyst, Private Networks at Omdia noted, “To be successful in industry verticals, such as transport and manufacturing, the cellular ecosystem must provide compelling offerings that address both current pain points and long-term disruptive trends.
“The private networks market will be built on the trust and results delivered by private LTE, however enterprises, vendors, and service providers must start now to understand the real potential of 5G and how to incorporate it into their strategies.
“By moving quickly with a 5G SA Private Network offering Nokia has now the opportunity to secure a pivotal role in driving the growth of the 5G ecosystem for enterprises.”
With its commercially available private wireless 5G SA, Nokia plans to enable OEM and ecosystem partners to validate of 5G capabilities.
The company claims, “This will help kickstart the development of 5G-capable industrial assets, accelerate application development, and integrate 5G into future industrial processes and systems”.
Premier platform plans
In addition to working with its private wireless network ecosystem – which includes service providers, cloud partners, systems integrators, strategic consulting and industry specialists – Nokia will also deliver benefits of 5G across industry-specific use cases.
With 3GPP R15 SA architecture providing the baseline for private 5G in industry, Nokia hopes its 5G SA private wireless will become the premier platform to enable future industry-related features and improvements.
These include Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC), Time-Sensitive Networking (TSN), and many other industrial capabilities that will be delivered in future 5G 3GPP releases (R16-18).