Nokia 5G to support Industry 4.0 adoption at Agnico Eagle Finland mining operations

Operational 5G standalone (5G SA) network to support above and below ground mining operations for Kittilä mine, the largest primary gold producer in Europe.

  • 1 year ago Posted in

Nokia is working with mobile operator Telia, and its partner Digita, to deliver a 5G SA private wireless network for Agnico Eagle Finland Oy that operates the Kittilä mine in northern Finland. The network will support advanced 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 Nokia 5G SA network will support both above and below-ground operations, reaching depths of up to one kilometer. 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 important business Industry 4.0 use cases, such as autonomous vehicles, high-precision positioning and group communications, to further enhance operational reliability, safety and quality.

Tommi Kankkunen, General Manager of the Kittilä mine, said: “Having already piloted autonomous and remotely controlled machinery in recent years, we chose to work with Nokia, Telia and Digita to deliver capabilities for the next phase of our digital transformation journey. We want to innovate by using the latest technologies and will leverage the Nokia 5G SA private network to enhance operational efficiency and support the highest level of safety for teams working at the mine.”

The Nokia 5G SA private wireless network, based on the Nokia Modular Private Wireless (MPW) 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.

Jari Collin, Chief Technology Officer, Telia Finland, said: “We are excited to be a part of this project for Agnico Eagle, providing high-performance 5G to transform operations at the Kittilä mine. This deployment continues our work with Nokia and Digita to deliver 5G SA private wireless networks in Finland to support the growing digital economy in the country.”

Stephan Litjens, Head of Enterprise Solutions at Nokia, said: “This is another great example of how collaboration across the ecosystem is essential for developing winning technology solutions to meet productivity, safety and sustainability targets. We are pleased to work with Telia and Digita to deliver our leading 5G standalone private wireless technology and enable new Industry 4.0 use cases for the Kittilä Mine. Nokia industrial private wireless networks provide secure, reliable connectivity to meet the stringent operational demands of today’s mining industry, and 5G enables even greater levels of performance.””


Telecom Egypt, Egypt’s first integrated telecom operator and one of the largest subsea cable operators in the region, has deployed Ciena’s WaveLogic 5 Extreme coherent optical technology to maximize capacity along the Mediterranean segment of Telecom Egypt’s Middle East North Africa (MENA) submarine cable system and Egypt’s mesh network.
CityFibre, the UK’s largest independent Full Fibre platform, has announced the the successful deployment of its first 800 Gb/s backbone wavelength in partnership with leading network technology solutions vendor, Ciena. This is a key milestone on CityFibre’s path to building a Full Fibre digital infrastructure that will reach up to 8 million premises in the UK.
First 800G network in Poland brings faster speeds, greater capacity for a digital future.
Cradlepoint has announced a new partnership with Staffline to provide high-speed, flexible solutions for its on-site connectivity needs.
Research by NTT DATA UK and teknowlogy Group finds that whilst most industries are positive about 5G, there is discrepancy across industries in the scope of challenges faced.
ServerChoice has announced the launch of its new network connectivity service, ServerChoice Connect. The new offering allows users to seamlessly connect to other data centres, cloud providers, peering exchanges and more, direct from their ServerChoice rack.
Cellnex UK has been awarded a contract by Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to design and build a 5G private network, consisting of a 5G core network and a Radio Access Network, in Basing View, Basingstoke's central business district.
Kerv, the next-generation ‘customer-first’, cloud and digital transformation services provider, has acquired Gyrocom, a fast growing network and security integrator with a specialisation in SD-WAN. In addition to SD-WAN, Kerv’s strategic acquisition brings skills in managed networks and network security, including Secure Access Service Edge (SASE), the rapidly emerging cybersecurity solution. Gyrocom will operate as Kerv’s specialist networking and security division.