Etteplan, Nokia and Ukkoverkot team up to provide private LTE solutions for industrial customers

Etteplan Press release 3.6.2019 at 10.00 a.m.

-Global market for private LTE networks growing substantially

Etteplan, Nokia and Ukkoverkot will join forces to provide industrial customers with solutions based on private LTE/4G or NR 5G radio networks. A private mobile network is an effective – and often the only – wireless option for critical applications requiring reliable and secure connections with a high data transfer capacity and low latency (i.e. short delays). Typical applications include ports, industrial areas or mines. A private LTE network enables the efficient and secure utilization of data collected from multiple sources, like sensors and cameras.

“We estimate the need for private wireless networks in industry and the public infrastructure in Finland to be in the hundreds. According to different studies, up to half of the world’s largest industrial companies will utilize a private LTE network by the end of 2020. In addition, Harbor Research estimates* that the worldwide potential totals nearly 15 million unique networks, ” says Jouko Tuppurainen, Director at Ukkoverkot. (*Harbor Research: The Private LTE  Opportunity for Industrial and Commercial IoT)

“Sensors, end devices and software will have an increasingly important role in the digitalization of industries and rising level of automation. The benefits generated can be best leveraged by a private wireless-networks, making this cooperation extremely important for Ukkoverkot, ” Tuppurainen added.

Each company will bring dedicated expertise to provide customers with a robust end-to-end solution. Etteplan will serve as the integrator and develop applications to support the customer businesses. Nokia will supply the required radio systems, such as the wireless network access points and software for managing the mobile network. Ukkoverkot is a system supplier and operator (SIM card supplier) and provides the assigned radio frequency.

Overview of an LTE network and cooperation model

Private wireless LTE solutions enable mobile robotics and remote-controlled processes

“The opportunities are extraordinary. Particularly mobile robotics is an interesting area with applications like autonomous, driverless vehicles such as forklifts that receive commands through the wireless network. Production robots can flexibly move from one manufacturing cell to another as they are wirelessly connected for data transfer. Remote-controlled processes are often based on camera drives, which enable quick and flexible real-time remote process steering. All these require reliable and secure connections to function correctly and efficiently, ” says Jaakko Ala-Paavola, Technology Director, Etteplan.

“We are very proud to forge this working relationship to help digitalize and drive the industrial transformation in Finland. Many enterprises operate in very demanding environments, in which multiple actors require reliable, high capacity connectivity. That makes Nokia Digital Automation Cloud an excellent fit for transferring and computing big data in real time. Together, we are making it easy to go digital and automate by providing a compelling end-to-end solution, ” says Stephan Litjens, General Manager, Nokia Digital Automation.

Additional information
Etteplan: Jaakko Ala-Paavola, Technology Director Solutions & Technologies, Software & Embedded Solutions, tel. +358 447 552 936
Etteplan: Outi Torniainen, SVP, Marketing and Communications, tel. +358 10 307 3302
Nokia Media Relations tel.  +358 (0) 10 448 4900, press.services@nokia.com Ukkoverkot: Jouko Tuppurainen, Director, tel. +358 (0)40 138 8084

Etteplan in brief
Etteplan provides solutions for industrial equipmen t and plant engineering , software and embedded solutions , and technical documentation solutions to the world’s leading companies in the manufacturing industry. Our services are geared to improve the competitiveness of our customers’ products, services and engineering processes throughout the product life cycle. The results of Etteplan’s innovative engineering can be seen in numerous industrial solutions and everyday products.
In 2018, Etteplan had a turnover of approximately EUR 236 million. The company currently has more than 3, 000 professionals in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and China. Etteplan’s shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd under the ETTE ticker. www.etteplan.com

About Nokia for Industries
Nokia has deployed over 1, 000 mission-critical networks with leading customers in the transport, energy, large enterprise, manufacturing, web scale and public sector segments around the globe. Leading enterprises across industries are leveraging our decades of experience building some of the biggest and most advanced IP, optical, and wireless networks on the planet. The Nokia Bell Labs Future X for industries architecture provides a framework for enterprises to accelerate their digitalization and automation journey to Industry 4.0.

About Nokia
We create the technology to connect the world. We develop and deliver the industry’s only end-to-end portfolio of network equipment, software, services and licensing that is available globally. Our customers include communications service providers whose combined networks support 6.1 billion subscriptions, as well as enterprises in the private and public sector that use our network portfolio to increase productivity and enrich lives.
Through our research teams, including the world-renowned Nokia Bell Labs, we are leading the world to adopt end-to-end 5G networks that are faster, more secure and capable of revolutionizing lives, economies and societies. Nokia adheres to the highest ethical business standards as we create technology with social purpose, quality and integrity. www.nokia.com

About Ukkoverkot
Established in 2014, Ukkoverkot Oy provides tailor-made connections on land, sea and air to support digitalization of industrial and security operators. The customers include Konecranes, Sandvik, Finavia, Steveco, Port of Oulu, Port of Kokkola, VR Group (Finnish state railways) and the Finnish Defense Forces. Ukkoverkot operates its Finnish Private LTE networks in 2.6 GHz and 450 MHz frequencies. The 2.6 GHz frequency band enables also services based on 5G technology.