Private wireless network adopted at Finland mining operations

Nokia is working with Finnish mobile operator Telia and its partner, Digita, to deliver a 5G standalone (SA) private wireless network for Agnico Eagle Finland Oy. The company operates the Kittilä mine in northern Finland and the network will support Industry 4.0 use cases at the mine to accelerate its digital transformation.

The Kittilä mine is the largest primary gold producer in Europe and is located 900 km north of Helsinki and 150 km north of the Arctic circle, in the Lapland region of northern Finland. The network will support both above- and below-ground operations, reaching depths of up to 1 km. It will cover an extensive tunnel system to connect people, equipment, sensors, devices and vehicles leveraging the low-latency capabilities of 5G.

The Kittilä mine will benefit from real-time data processing at the network edge, supporting autonomous vehicles, high-precision positioning and group communications, to further enhance operational reliability, safety and quality.

The Nokia 5G SA private wireless network, based on the Nokia Modular Private Wireless solution, will incorporate Nokia 5G RAN AirScale base station technology and critical edge computing capabilities, together with the Nokia Compact Mobility Unit-based 5G core. The network will be deployed in phases and is expected to be completed in October 2022.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Mishainik