Nokia to modernize private nationwide LTE network for Finland's Ukkoverkot, supporting industrial and public safety services

Press Release

• New mobile network supports Ukkoverkot customers including industrial IoT market, critical communications customers and private LTE-based network clientele, all seeking to capitalize on opportunies of digitalization
• Solution includes Nokia's 450MHz LTE, deployed for the first time in Finland

Ukkoverkot has signed Finnish airport operator Finavia as their first micro-operator customer, building private LTE network for Helsinki airport with Nokia technology

Contract underlines Nokia's increasing momentum around expanding into new vertical markets

             
19 September, 2017

Espoo, Finland - Nokia is to completely modernize the nationwide LTE network for Ukkoverkot, the Finnish private network operator offering wireless data communications services for infrastructure operators, the industrial IoT market, public safety authorities, the maritime industry and both residents and enterprises in remote areas. The new network will be powered by Nokia's leading LTE solution, which provides superior network quality, capacity, security and reliability required for such specialized use cases.

Founded in 2014, Ukkoverkot operates its own LTE-based mobile data network and a number of local private LTE networks, offering fast connections using the 450 MHz and 2.6 GHz spectrum bands. Ukkoverkot's low-frequency nationwide network is largely reserved for the use of its industrial and public safety customers, which helps ensure exceptional network stability and reliability, while its high frequency network is reserved for private micro-operator networks. As a pure broadband operator, Ukkoverkot's network exclusively carries data services.

Starting in Q4 2017, Nokia will upgrade Ukkoverkot's older-generation network technology to Nokia's state-of-the-art LTE-based solution, which significantly improves network performance. This enables Ukkoverkot's customers in industrial IoT settings to capitalize on opportunities related to new Industry 4.0. applications, while critical communications and public safety operators can benefit from ultra-reliable, high-bandwidth services supporting all standardized public safety features. Due to better propagation characteristics, low-band spectrum can provide a larger coverage area than high-band spectrum, which makes Nokia's 450 MHz LTE network solution ideal for delivering services in sparsely populated areas such as the Nordic countries.