Nokia and Kyndryl announced a global network and edge computing alliance aimed at helping enterprise customers accelerate their digital transformations with industrial-grade reliable and secure LTE and 5G private wireless networking.
The companies said the partnership builds on a successful private wireless connectivity project that yielded an innovative solution combining Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) application platform with Kyndryl’s consulting, design, implementation and managed services. The solution is designed to support the move to Industry 4.0, which is transforming how companies manufacture and distribute their products by interacting with IoT, cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI) and other advances to their environments and operations.
The collaboration has already resulted in private LTE and 5G real world deployments and several proof-of-concept (PoC) applications for Dow Inc. to support Industry 4.0-enabled worker safety and collaboration, asset tracking, and other capabilities using a blueprint that it plans to expand and deploy across its sites worldwide.
The companies say they share a vision that private wireless networking over both LTE and 5G will enable new levels of operational flexibility and adaptability across a wide range of asset-intensive industries, with manufacturing as a primary market segment.
“As enterprises across every industry are seeking new ways to digitally transform their operations, 5G and edge computing are growing so they can harness the promise of these emerging technologies,” said Kyndryl global practice leader of network and edge computing Paul Savill.
“By collaborating with Nokia, we’re taking another step forward in helping our customers unlock the power of LTE and 5G through a secure, private environment that helps them deliver tailored enterprise-grade edge solutions that drive new value for their bottom lines and next gen customer experiences.”
By collaborating to provide solutions over LTE and 5G standards, the companies said they are addressing the marketplace opportunities that already utilise the strong industrial ecosystem available now with LTE, while paving the way for significant 5G enhancements in future 3GPP releases, with existing Nokia DAC 5G stand alone-ready private wireless solutions. Nokia head of the global enterprise business Chris Johnson said, “By combining Kyndryl’s world-class services expertise and global reach with Nokia’s mission-critical, industry-leading private wireless and industrial edge computing solutions, we will enable even more organisations to transform their operations, accelerate their digitalisation journey and reap the benefits of Industry 4.0.”
Nokia says its DAC is a digitisation service platform featuring high-performance, industrial-grade private wireless connectivity and edge computing, strengthening the company’s global footprint, industry expertise and end-to-end customer solutions – from ideation to implementation and management.Kyndryl and Nokia say they also plan to explore and develop new, integrated solutions and services for Edge Cloud, IP networking, Optics, Fixed Access, 4G and 5G Core and Network Operations software technologies that can address growing demand for mission-critical, industrial-grade wireless networking to capitalise on the transformational benefits of digitisation and automation.
Asset-intensive industries are adopting smart and autonomous systems fueled by data and machine learning to improve agility, productivity and efficiency. In particular, private wireless connectivity is a key enabler to adding new data sources and analytics layers, for real-time process management, and to facilitate automation, robotics, AI, augmented and virtual reality use cases, the companies noted.
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A versatile technology executive with extensive experience in most disciplines and technologies in the Information and Communications Technologies sector. Roles have encompassed general management, product management, business development, sales management, industry marketing, operations management, research and development, business case development, market research and forecasting, regulatory, strategy management, solution development, major project construction, process design and management, technology and management consulting, and engineering.
Swedish telecommunications equipment company Ericsson says it has been notified by the US Securities and Exchange Commission that an investigation has been opened into the company's report about its 2019 dealings in Iraq.
In a statement issued on Thursday, Ericsson said, while it was too early to predict the outcome of the investigation, it was fully co-operating with the SEC.
The firm is facing a class action lawsuit in the US over the same issue. Chief executive Börje Ekholm and chief financial officer Carl Mellander have been named as defendants in the suit which was filed on 4 March.
Details of alleged bribery in Ericsson's dealings in Iraq were leaked to the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists which shared the data with The Guardian, the BBC and the Washington Post in March.
{loadposition sam08}The firm was said to have allegedly paid bribes to the Islamic State terrorist group in order to continue doing business in the country.
Around the time when Ericsson held its annual general meeting in March, Ekholm claimed he had told staff to hand over the full report on dealings in Iraq to the US Department of Justice.
This claim was made after the company admitted it had not met the terms of a deal struck with the DoJ in 2019 over claims of alleged corrupt dealings in Iraq.
It said it had been informed by the DoJ on 1 March that disclosure it had made prior to a deferred prosecution agreement, which was inked on 6 December 2019, was insufficient.
Ericsson is one of four companies that can provide end-to-end 5G services, the others being Nokia, Huawei and ZTE.
The latter two forms are Chinese and have been banned from providing equipment in many countries, with the US having led the charge to achieve this.
Chinese smartphone manufacturer OPPO has released a model in its Reno line in Australia after more than a year, putting the Reno8 Lite 5G on sale from Thursday for $599.
The last time a Reno model was released in Australia was in September 2020, when the Reno4 5G and Reno4 Z 5G were launched.
The Reno8 Lite 5G is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 695 5G SoC which is built on a 6nm process. It has 6GB of memory and 128GB of storage space.
The device is claimed to offer features that support professional portrait photography, with a a 64MP hi-res main camera, a 2MP macro camera, a 2MP depth camera, and a 16MP front camera.
{loadposition sam08}Two of the features on offer are Bokeh Flare Portrait and Selfie HDR. The former allows users to capture portrait images with rich bokeh light spots just like a high-end DSLR camera.
Selfie HDR captures clear selfies in dimly lit or backlit surroundings. The front camera is claimed to automatically detect background light and use an algorithm to suppress bright light when a backlit face or a bright background is detected, ensuring both subject and background are captured in detail.
The Reno8 Lite 5G has a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a 60Hz refresh rate. The display is certified for Netflix HD and Amazon Prime Video HD.
The device marks the debut of OPPO’s Dual Orbit Lights, which are placed behind the two primary cameras.
According to OPPO, "The Dual Orbit Lights light up or blink in electric blue, light blue, cyan blue or baby blue depending on different scenarios, for example when the phone is powering on, charging, receiving an incoming call or unread notification, as well as launching a game."
Australian retailers JB Hi-Fi, Officeworks, Harvey Norman, Big W, Woolworths, Bing Lee, and Australia Post will sell the device which will come in two colours: Rainbow Spectrum and Cosmic Black.
Dimensions 159.9 x 73.2 x 7.5 mm (6.30 x 2.88 x 0.30 in)
SIM Dual SIM (Nano-SIM, dual stand-by)
IPX4, dust and water resistant
RGB ring lights around the cameras (notifications, charging progress)
DISPLAY Type AMOLED, 430 nits (typ), 600 nits (HBM)
Size 6.43 inches, 99.8 cm2 (~85.3% screen-to-body ratio)
Resolution 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~409 ppi density)
Chipset Qualcomm SM6375 Snapdragon 695 5G (6 nm)
CPU Octa-core (2x2.2 GHz Kryo 660 Gold & 6x1.7 GHz Kryo 660 Silver)
MAIN CAMERA Triple 64 MP, f/1.7, 26mm (wide), PDAF
Features LED flash, HDR, panorama
SELFIE CAMERA Single 16 MP, f/2.4, 27mm (wide), 1.0µm
COMMS WLAN Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot
Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE, aptX HD
GPS Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO, QZSS
USB USB Type-C 2.0, USB On-The-Go
FEATURES Sensors Fingerprint (side-mounted), accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass
BATTERY Type Li-Po 4500 mAh, non-removable
Charging Fast charging 33W, 31% in 15 min, 100% in 63 min (advertised)
Main image supplied by OPPO Australia
Nokia has won a ten-year extension to its contract with Orange Polska (Orange). The improved deal, which will cover 50% of Orange Poland’s network in northern Poland and run until 2036, will see the modernisation of the operator’s existing radio network infrastructure as well as enhance its 5G capabilities.
Nokia says the move will support Orange’s strategy of delivering best-in-class services to its customers.
Under the contract, Nokia will upgrade all existing networks including equipment supporting phasing out Orange’s 3G network and infrastructural solutions enabling reallocating the frequencies to enhance its 4G coverage and capacity.
Nokia says the network refresh is scheduled to continue until 2025 and it will also supply equipment from its latest energy-efficient AirScale portfolio including Single RAN, AirScale base stations, and 5G Massive MIMO antennas for the operator’s 5G solution that covers all deployment scenarios from dense-urban capacity to wide-area coverage.
Nokia also announced that it will also deliver equipment supporting C-Band spectrum when it is made available in Poland. C-Band spectrum, between 3.4 GHz and 3.8 GHz, is a crucial resource for operators to offer the best mix of 5G network capacity and coverage to subscribers.
“These solutions will support Orange’s network leadership while delivering superior connectivity and capacity to its customers. Nokia will also provide services, including digital deployment, technical support for operations and maintenance, as well as professional services,” Nokia said.
“Nokia has a long-standing partnership with Orange which has included the supply of all radio technologies. Nokia also has global R&D facilities with thousands of engineers in Wroclaw and Krakow,
Nokia president of mobile networks Tommi Uitto said: “This extension to our existing contract is a demonstration of the ongoing success of our partnership with Orange Polska as well as their trust in our technology. I look forward to seeing this collaboration deepen as we look to deliver 5G services across Poland including in mid-band C-Band spectrum which will offer enhanced coverage and capacity to their customers.”
The latest 4G Wi-Fi 6 smart router from D-Link, the D-Link G415, sets a high bar for today’s device-dense home, worksite, or travelling user.
The D-Link G415 was announced earlier this year with an exciting list of features - Wi-Fi 6, 3G/4G LTE, Gigabit Ethernet, mesh Wi-Fi, AI-powered smarts to always find you the strongest signal, and more. However, a list of features is one thing. This router really has to be experienced to truly appreciate it.
First things first; why a 4G router? I've long been a huge fan of a dedicated cellular router like this. Back years ago when I worked for companies on the merger and acquisition spree we had the choice of dealing with disconnected offices while waiting for our telco to spend three months designing and building MPLS network links to the new office … or I could set up a cellular router that connected to our private network and they were online and secure, with complete end-to-end visibility of private resources within minutes. I could set up site offices on client locations like a coal mine out in the Bowen Basin without needing to tap into the client’s network.
Of course, there are so many other uses. Road warriors can use a cellular router to get online anywhere, anytime - whether on the side of the road, in a hotel, or wherever they might be working. While a mobile phone hotspot serves in a pinch it’s less effective than a device literally designed to take mobile data and convert it into Wi-Fi. Also, for many business folks, their key application is voice - even if can’t connect to the Intranet or email it’s imperative they’re still able to make and receive phone calls. So, do yourself a favour, don’t use your phone as a hotspot - preserve your battery and work from a 4G router and get better connectivity.
And, not to mention, today's cord-cutter generations don’t see the need for a fixed-line broadband connection. It may seem unusual to those of us stuck in mortgage-land, but I’ve had 20-somethings staff members who literally use 4G broadband as their home Internet and are rapidly making that the new normal.
There are loads of reasons to use a cellular router - grey nomads being yet another - and you deserve it to yourself to have the best.
With the G415, D-Link has surpassed its previous standards; this is a unit that packs so much into something so small and simple.
As you'd expect, it lets you share your 3G or 4G connection with multiple devices. D-Link’s testing says it can handle up to 128 devices. In my home, there are multiple desktops, laptops, smart devices, phones, watches, tablets, games consoles, and so many other things. Last time I tried to count it was over 50 items that connect to the Internet in some way - even the Thermomix.
I doubt I'm unusual. Think about your own home - how many family members have a laptop, phone, tablet, and smartwatch? How many smart TVs and game consoles might you have? How about IoT devices like Philips Hue bulbs and Sensibo air-conditioner controllers? Today’s home truly has an explosion of connectivity.
The D-Link G415 helps you out; it has two external 4G LTE antennas that handle up to 150Mbps down and up to 50Mbps up. This then connects to all your devices via Wi-Fi 6 802.11ax. The Wi-Fi 6 standard provides faster speeds, greater capacity, and less network congestion - in short, it supports more people doing more things all at one time.
This Wi-Fi signal is distributed over the usual 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies but merges together in dual-band Wi-Fi to allow your users to simply connect to your SSID and automatically receive the best connection available. They can stream in 4K, game, and video chat with ease. What’s more, the smart AI will help you mesh more and more compatible Wi-Fi access points and transparently move your connection among them as you wander about the house.
You also get 3x Gigabit Ethernet sockets on the back of the G415. So, in my case, I connected these up to three switches - all in different locations, but terminating in a central location in my lounge room. One is off to my office with my computers and Synology DS1621+ NAS, one to the nearby TV, Apple TV, Philips Hue hub, and another off to the so-dubbed “geek room” where my teenagers hang out with their PCs. Then the plethora of laptops and tablets and general things join in the action via Wi-Fi.
Everything worked; it worked terrifically. I enjoyed high cellular connectivity speeds - more than I can get on my NBN FTTN fixed-line - and I enjoyed responsive performance and connectivity on all the devices. The family didn’t notice I’d sneakily pushed them over to 4G while the children played games and my wife streamed Bridgerton series two.
However, even with this 4G connectivity, the G415 still has another trick up its virtual sleeve. You aren’t constrained to only cellular connectivity - it has a Gigabit Ethernet WAN port tool. Plug your fixed-line broadband into that, and now the router is relaying that via Wi-Fi 6 too. In my view, it’s truly a smart router that has 4G capability more than it is a 4G router. It happily merges your Internet together, delivering maximum performance and uptime and stability to your users. While you might (I did) find your cellular performance better than your fixed-line performance, we still live in a world where fixed-line data comes with unlimited quota options while cellular data has a cap. Thus, use the D-Link G415 here to turn your normal home Internet into a Wi-Fi 6 powerhouse with a 4G backup.
There is more; you can have your family and guest Wi-Fi channels, you get AI-based QoS, or quality of service, to auto-prioritise bandwidth intense applications like 4K media, and you have a rich set of parental controls where you can individually set schedules on devices and hours for family members. It’s even Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant compatible so you can literally speak “Ok Google, enable Guest Wi-Fi” or utter other commands. Imagine telling Google to kill the Wi-Fi at dinner time with only your voice. That’s what you can do now.
I began by speaking about my own experiences with cellular routers to connect new offices or remote worksites. The D-Link G415 takes that experience to an entirely unanticipated new level where it literally is the powerhouse that bridges your home to the world of information, education, productivity and entertainment. It’s no mere cellular router; make no mistake - this is a smart router that converges 4G LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Ethernet, mesh networking, voice assistant, and more, for the modern device-laden household or office or Winnebago.
West Australian energy company Blair Fox has partnered with IoT tech company M2M Connectivity to upgrade its wireless communications infrastructure, aiding the delivery of renewable energy to farms and agricultural businesses.
Blair Fox was established in 1997 and now operates 40 wind turbines. Its central operations centre is based in Perth.
Blair Fox director Tim Rosser said, “Faced with the shutdown of 3G and an aging communications infrastructure, we needed a solution to power remote operations, now and into the future. We had previously relied on manual monitoring and maintenance, but as a small company, this was not sustainable or viable given the remote and rugged locations of our turbines."
The M2M solution features Sierra Wireless FX30 modems and specialist M2M SIMs at each site.
“M2M Connectivity designed and deployed a custom solution within weeks and what we now have is the peace of mind we need to run our turbines and deliver energy to our customers for years to come,” Rosser said.
M2M Connectivity senior director ANZ Kat Dempsey said, “Blair Fox has implemented a system which is future proof and can be easily migrated as cellular networks evolve. We look forward to continuing our partnership and ensuring their communications infrastructure supports their growth and the evolving needs of their customers.”
The M2M Connectivity solution emulates CSD over IP allowing legacy systems to communicate seamlessly over 4 and 5G. Using the solution, Blair Fox can now reset and recalibrate each turbine remotely.
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