Nokia launches industrial 5G devices for worker safety, connectivity in industrial settings | IoT Now News & Reports

Nokia launches industrial 5G devices for worker safety, connectivity in industrial settings | IoT Now News & Reports

Time Stamp: September 28, 2023 5:23 AM
Source Node: 2906896

Nokia unveiled an array of industrial 5G devices designed to ensure the safety, connectivity and information flow for enterprise teams and public safety professionals operating within challenging and high-risk environments. These devices are engineered to cater to the unique demands of hazardous industrial settings, including ports, mines, chemical plants and offshore oil platforms, where secure and private wireless networks are paramount.

The company is rolling out ruggedised 5G handhelds, its latest industrial device consumption model, with improvements to worker and device-centric applications. By adding these new assets to Nokia’s end-to-end platform for industrial digitalisation, along with its private wireless and edge applications, Nokia proves its commitment to helping industrial enterprises navigate their digital transformation journeys, ensuring their operations are more safe, productive and efficient.

The new Nokia industrial devices are suitable for all enterprise types and include a ruggedised handheld supporting public safety teams communicating over Band 68. The U.S.-manufactured handheld device has a long lifecycle and is IP 68-rated for operation in remote or harsh environments. Dual-SIM (Subscriber Identity Module), including flexibility adding eSIM (embedded SIM), ensures reliable connectivity and simplified management, while an exchangeable battery allows shift workers to share devices in the field.

Teams can customise keys to define a dedicated push-to-talk button, while other large buttons and optional accessories, including remote speaker microphones and earpieces. This enables push-to-talk, allowing workers to communicate without removing safety equipment like helmets and gloves.

Nokia is also expanding its portfolio of ruggedised 5G handhelds with EX-rated phones using the same technical platform. The company has partnered with i.safe MOBILE GmbH, an ‘explosion-proof’ mobile devices and solutions vendor.

Two i.safe MOBILE 5G handhelds are now part of the Nokia end-to-end solution for private wireless infrastructures. They have been tested and certified to meet the connectivity demands of sectors such as oil and gas, mining and chemical manufacturers. They can be safely used in hazardous areas ATEX (Atmospheres Explosibles) Zone 1 or further away ATEX Zone 2 where a flammable atmosphere is not likely but could occur for a short time. These handhelds offered by Nokia, support necessary radio frequency bands, have required certifications and can be used by companies worldwide.

“Through this partnership, we are pleased to support Nokia with our decades of expertise in explosion-proof mobile devices with our latest 5G developments,” says Martin Haaf, CEO of i.safe MOBILE. “The combination of our devices with Nokia’s solutions offers companies a great added value on their digitalisation journey.”

“At Nokia, we are committed to helping enterprises reliably connect workers in the most intuitive ways to keep them safe and productive,” says Martin Beltrop, head of industrial devices, at Nokia’s Enterprise Campus Edge Solutions. “By extending our portfolio with the new 5G handheld devices and making Nokia Team Comms 3GPP-aligned, we can serve the growing needs of enterprise workers in industrial and hazardous environments as well as public safety teams.”

Beltrop added that by leveraging the new capabilities of Nokia Network Digital Twin, teams will have more information than ever, allowing them to make instant informed decisions to maintain efficiency and network reliability in their dynamically changing environments.

Nokia will also offer its managed ruggedised 5G industrial devices deployed over Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) in a subscription-based ‘as-a-Service’ (aaS) model. Application bundles include Nokia Industrial device management, which allows administrators to apply group policies and scale management to their entire device fleet, Nokia Team Comms and Nokia Network Digital Twin. This model enables enterprises to move asset costs from capital to operating expenses and more easily connect workers and manage the fleet of industrial devices in their plants. Moving forward, Nokia will continue to add more types of devices to the managed aaS model.

The updated Nokia Team Comms (NTC) 23 application running on Nokia Mission Critical Industrial Edge (MXIE) now aligns with the 3GPP-defined MCS (Mission Critical Services) standard. NTC will address the needs of mission-critical push-to-talk (MCPTT), providing communication capabilities usually only available in more complex and expensive solutions for workers in harsh environments. NTC allows users to stream video or establish voice calls with a group of users or a single user to gain the ‘greatest context’ about any situation.

The new version will allow administrators to configure changes to their device fleet using a newly built web portal. Deployed on MXIE residing on-premises, Nokia Team Comms ensures data remains within the teams that use it. NTC works without internet connectivity and scales from a small number of users to large groups.

Nokia is also extending the capabilities of Nokia Network Digital Twin (NDT) to all Android devices, allowing coverage and performance data for Wi-Fi, private, and public cellular networks to be automatically collected in real-time and processed on Nokia MXIE. Enterprises in dynamic environments, such as ports, factories, or mines, can see how changes in their operations impact network performance and use this insight to inform future network planning and use case decisions.

Nokia 4.9G/LTE and 5G ruggedised user equipment and integrated applications allow enterprises to connect their workers and industrial machines over private wireless networks and benefit from the greatest performance and lowest latency.

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