Nokia, Kyndryl create global private network and edge computing alliance

Global comms tech provider Nokia and IT infrastructure services firm Kyndryl have formed a global network and edge computing alliance, which is aimed at helping enterprise customers accelerate their digital transformations with an “industrial-grade reliable and secure” LTE and 5G private wireless networking.

Outlining the background to their partnership, the companies said that asset-intensive industries are adopting smart and autonomous systems fuelled by data and machine learning to improve agility, productivity and efficiency.

In particular, private wireless connectivity is a key enabler to adding new data sources and analytics layers, for real-time process management, and to facilitate automation, robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), augmented and virtual reality use cases.

Nokia currently claims to support more than 420 large enterprise private wireless customers spanning manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, energy and utilities, transportation and smart cities, enabling them to take advantage of “hyper-fast” data transfer speeds, low latency, data insights and encryption that protects sensitive information.

The partnership builds on a private wireless connectivity project that the companies worked on which combined the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) application platform with Kyndryl’s consulting, design, implementation and managed services.

The solution is designed to support the move to Industry 4.0, which Nokia said is transforming how companies manufacture and distribute their products by interacting with the internet of things (IoT), cloud computing, AI and other advances to their environments and operations.

The companies said that they share a belief that private wireless networking over both LTE and 5G will enable new levels of operational flexibility and adaptability across a wide range of asset-intensive industries, with manufacturing as a primary market segment.

“As enterprises across every industry are seeking new ways to digitally transform their operations, 5G and edge computing are growing so they can harness the promise of these emerging technologies,” said Paul Savill, global practice leader of network and edge computing for Kyndryl.

“By collaborating with Nokia, we’re taking another step forward in helping our customers unlock the power of LTE and 5G through a secure, private environment that helps them deliver tailored enterprise-grade edge solutions that drive new value for their bottom lines and next gen customer experiences.”

Chris Johnson, head of the global enterprise business at Nokia, added: “By combining Kyndryl’s world-class services expertise and global reach with Nokia’s mission-critical, industry-leading private wireless and industrial edge computing solutions, we will enable even more organisations to transform their operations, accelerate their digitisation journey and reap the benefits of Industry 4.0.”

The two firms said that their collaboration has already resulted in private LTE and 5G real world deployments and several proof-of-concept (PoC) applications for Dow Inc to support Industry 4.0-enabled worker safety and collaboration, asset tracking, and other capabilities using a blueprint that it plans to expand and deploy across its sites worldwide.

Going forward, they plan to explore and develop new, integrated solutions and services for edge cloud, IP networking, optics, fixed access, 4G and 5G core and network operations software technologies that can address growing demand for mission-critical, industrial-grade wireless networking to capitalise on what they regard as the transformational benefits of digitisation and automation.