CK Hutchison, owner of the Hutchison telecoms group in Asia and Three (3) mobile brand in Europe, has opened a centre of excellence to provide bespoke private LTE and 5G networks for large enterprises.
It cited as prime candidates for industrial LTE and 5G enterprises that manage campus environments, such as transport hubs, logistics operations, wind farms and refineries.
The new centre, managed by CKH Innovations Opportunities Development (CKH IOD), the company’s so-called ‘international development hub’, will call on radio engineers and solution designers responsible for mission-critical private networks for the Port of Felixstowe and Heathrow Airport in the UK.
CK Hutchison said private LTE, as it is offering currently, is an “important stepping stone” for companies to leverage new industrial applications using automation, robotics, and virtual and augmented reality (VR and AR). Private cellular provides more resilience, speed, and control than Wi-Fi, which dominates most factory communications.
“Especially pertinent for large-campus environments, private networks are increasingly becoming the choice of enterprises in sectors including transport and manufacturing,” the company said.
The new facility is located at CKH IOD’s base in London. It includes a network operations centre (NOC) for engineers to monitor and support customers’ private networks.
Sean Doherty, head of enterprise at CKH IOD, said: “We’ve successfully deployed a number of these mission-critical private LTE networks and understand first-hand how important the solutions are to enterprise customers. The centre has the people and technologies to help large businesses leverage reliable, high-speed private networks to ensure the smooth and efficient running of critical operations.
“It includes project managers, solution designers and some of the industry’s most experienced engineers who will not only design the radio plan, but who also have a deep understanding of the devices and applications that will rely on this connectivity.”
CK Hutchison quoted research from McKinsey & Company that just 16 per cent of organisations have so far improved performance after implementing digital transformation projects, and that connectivity is considered a “key factor” for making these projects work.
Doherty said: “Our enterprise customers who have transitioned to private LTE have found that these private networks become an engine for change, giving better visibility across highly complex campus environments. The increased speeds and zero latency of 5G will be a further, strong enabler of innovation and transformation. Adopting private networks now lets enterprises get ready for that future.”
