Cibicom taps Nokia to supply mission-critical LTE network across Denmark

After a series of deals establishing its presence in the 5G arena, Nokia has revealed that it has signed an agreement with Cibicom to provide essential equipment for the Danish internet service provider (ISP) and operator’s new 450MHz LTE network.

Cibicom A/S offers design, installation, operation and service of solutions for business-critical communication and public service broadcasting to operation such as coastal radio and the Danish Defence and infrastructure to telecoms operators.

It owns and runs a cross-Denmark network of up to 300 metres high radio and TV broadcast towers, which are used for purposes such as the distribution of TV (DTT) and radio (AM/FM/DAB+), IoT infrastructure and emergency response communication in Denmark. The company has built up a redundant and fibre-based IP backbone and access network over 3,500 km that connects data centres, nodes and other network operators.

Currently, Cibicom covers 98% of Denmark, and the deal will maintain that level of coverage, as well as provide improved connectivity for private households in Greenland, an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark.

The project with Nokia is designed to ensure that key mission critical services throughout the country have access to highly reliable and secure connectivity as well as building preparedness for mass volume IoT adoption. It will see Cibicom replacing its existing radio networks and migrating them to a new framework that will enable full 4G data coverage across Denmark, as well as mass volume IoT connectivity.

This deployment is also designed to enhance Cibicom’s credentials as leading supplier of critical and business critical infrastructure, such as waste, water, energy and transportation. Smart grids and remote managed petrol stations are just some of the areas where these systems will be needed, as well as blue light emergency services, such as the police and ambulance services.

“Our decision to choose Nokia was based not only on their radio access technology but also their ability to provide a service that is reliable, robust and secure,” said Mette Slesvig, chief operating officer at Cibicom. “With IoT and managed services becoming increasingly important to our critical business customers, we need a partner that can not only provide network and service quality support tor LTE-M communications, but can adapt with us to provide more capacity and be ready for whatever customers need us to provide.”

Building on the company’s 450mHz licence acquisition in June, Nokia believes that the project will not only allow Cibicom to improve its offering to utility companies, but that it will also ensure that the service provider is in a strong position to adapt to changing customer requirements and offer new opportunities and application support when it progresses to evolve to 5G around the 3.5GHz spectrum band.

Lise Karstensen, head of Nordics at Nokia, said: “Radio networks supplying waste, water, energy and transportation services must not only be foundationally sound and built to last, but also prioritise security, quality and reliability.

“In addition, these sectors are also witnessing a growing need for IoT powered remote monitoring and management solutions, increasing the focus on network and service quality, as well as uptime. This technology upgrade will make Cibicom’s network ready for current and future demand.”