Sweden-based Telia has launched a private LTE and 5G network solution for enterprises in Norway using its licensed spectrum, otherwise used for its public network services. It follows the launch of the same service in Sweden in September. Telia is offering to install a custom radio (RAN) network, on customers’ premises, to run either with the public core network or “as a complete private network” with a standalone core network as well.
The firm is offering the solution under the banner Enterprise Mobile Network (EMN). It has deployed with mining companies Boliden and Zinkgruvan and forestry group Södra in Sweden. It has also engaged with Ericsson and Afry to connect a transformer factory belonging to Hitachi ABB Power Grids in Ludvika, in Sweden, and supplied an EMN-style deal for a signaling system in the Oslo Metro – the first time cellular has been used to control subway trains, it said.
Telia said it will follow with parallel offers in its other markets, in the Nordics and Baltics, including in Finland, Denmark, Estonia, and Lithuania. Its full solution for edge-based radio and core is suitable for “the most demanding use-cases in terms of data security, bandwidth, and latency”. It cited factories, hospitals, mines, and warehouses as candidates for private networks, and highlighted “remote steered machinery” as a likely use case.
“Customers essentially get their own mobile network to provide high bandwidth, low latency and safe passage for data traffic to and from systems, for example machines or vehicles, that are part of connected business processes,” it said. Besides traditional mobile operators like Telia, industrial networking specialist Tampnet holds spectrum in Norway at 700 MHz, 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz, and 2.6 GHz, mostly used for offshore cellular deployments.
Jon Christian Hillestad, head of Telia’s enterprise business unit in Norway, said: “We are at the forefront of 5G in Norway and we want to leverage that position to take a leading role in dedicated private network services as well. This type of solution is new to Norway, but we have already implemented Enterprise Mobile Networks for customers in other Nordic countries.
“We also see an increased demand in Norway for dedicated networks and other specialized services delivered to customers through our public mobile network. An example of that is our partnership with Oslo Metro that will use services run over our mobile network to control the subway. Dialogue around similar solutions are ongoing with other customers across the country.”
