Stephan Litjens

VP – Nokia CNS Enterprise Solutions

Now that the concept of private wireless networks has been accepted, Nokia is seeing enormous acceleration in its deployment. The company has delivered enough networks to be confident that the economics for an enterprise are excellent compared to Wi-Fi.

The ability to address use cases that used to be out of range commercially is increasing. Nokia’s outstanding expertise in this field ensures that a wider range of enterprises, from complex environments to small retail units, can enjoy the benefits of private wireless.

Private wireless remains, however, in its early stages, and Nokia is expecting a dramatic acceleration in its deployment. The company has been even more successful than it expected in making the technology easy to use and deploy in a way that suits a wide range of use cases.

Key points:

• The importance of the ecosystem and highly reliable technologies
• Why 5G gives enterprises more choice
• Deployment of private wireless - Why is that easier with Nokia?
• Access to licensed spectrum is changing the game

Podcast at a glance

How Nokia works to ensure smoother private wireless adoption

Private wireless is a compelling solution for industries because, as enterprises seek to extract more data from their machines, control them wirelessly, or operate a wider range of business processes, this is possible only with the assistance of highly reliable technologies.

Cellular advances such as LTE and 5G are ideal for difficult environments. In the case of ports and factories, for instance, these are large areas with a great deal of metal on site, yet the enterprise concerned requires the accurate collection of uplink data.

Nokia is working to make deployment of private wireless networks easier. The company comes to this new landscape with immense experience in telecommunications, but has evolved to be able to delivery technology platforms in two ways:

1. Plug-and-play: This is a Private Wireless as a Service (PWaaS) model that creates the entire environment, effectively a digital automation service.

2. Bespoke: Enterprises that wish to compile their own solution can do so in a way that combines a radio package with other multiple products to ensure it suits their requirements.

The ecosystem is critical to successful implementation

The enterprise environment is incredibly diverse and complex, with many different segments and specializations. Each use case requires a high level of expert knowledge. In response, Nokia has created several segments internally to cover areas including energy and industry. Its teams work to establish a depth of industry knowledge that informs, and enables the delivery of, the requirements of enterprises within each particular sector.

This is crucial to the process of integrating the right solutions. Its innovation has been assisted by the creation of partnerships with the companies that manufacture the machines at the heart of each network. As a result, the enterprise in question can take delivery of a network that works immediately to a super-reliable standard to the commercial benefit of the client in question.

Pre-integration in this way ensures the creation of a joint road map. An end user – a factory, port, mine, or other complex environment – may have multiple suppliers. But thanks to this greater degree of technological alignment at an earlier stage in the process, that end user does not need to worry about performance, reliability and interoperability.

As a result, Nokia has added a high level of enterprise connectivity to its existing pre-eminence in telecommunications and associated technology – while remaining open-minded to the need to adapt to future requirements.

Indeed, it is essential to accept that 5G represents a learning curve for all parties. Ultimately, enterprises want to invest in technologies that are future-proof and 5G – and 5G SA in particular – are particularly strong in that respect.

If a business begins today on this journey with LTE, it can deploy systems that will be reusable and expandable with 5G in perpetuity. The other key factor with regard to 5G SA is that it is making a significant difference with regard to affordability.

The differentiators in Nokia’s private wireless offering

There are three key elements that underpin the delivery of Nokia’s 5G capability:

1. Radio: The company’s heritage in this field is extremely strong. It has a macro stack with all the features and capabilities required, that can be scaled down for use in a private network, however challenging the conditions are.

2. Industrial connectors: As well as delivering mission-critical connectivity, it is also important to bring in other elements. Nokia has developed a set of industrial connectors, building blocks that can be operated as software applications on the edge cloud. This means that effectively there is an application platform to assist with a seamless, scalable response to use cases.

3. Spectrum: The appetite for spectrum is insatiable, and Nokia works with traditional mobile network operators and other partners to ensure the delivery of bespoke infrastructures.

Ultimately, Nokia is convinced that the application of private wireless across industries and sectors is proving even more valuable to enterprise than even the most optimistic predictions. The pace of acceptance, adoption and deployment is set to increase in the months and years ahead.