Nokia boasts of 27 private networks in Latin America

Nokia claims to be the leader in private networks with 450 contracts globally and 27 networks in Latin America, Fernando Sosa (in photo), manager for Nokia's Southern Cone region, told reporters during a company event in Argentina.

The Finnish company says it has more than 2,200 business clients globally.

Most of the private networks are LTE, although there are some that are testing or using 5G.

Of the 27 networks in the region, the vast majority are in Chile, Peru, Brazil and Colombia, Sosa said.

In Argentina, Nokia is also working on private networks, although the clients cannot be named due to confidentiality reasons, Sosa said. He told BNamericas that in Argentina the firm is working with the port, mining and agricultural industries.

Telefónica has deployed private network projects with Nokia with mining companies Las Bambas in Peru and Vale in Brazil. The latter is a US$5mn 4G project.

Meanwhile, South African miner AngloGold Ashanti announced it is also working with Nokia and Tigo on an autonomous 5G private cellular network to support underground mining automation and digital transformation at its Quebradona mine in Colombia.

Nokia was also selected by Brazilian power distributor Elektro for the installation of a private LTE network for its power grid in the city of Atibaia and surrounding areas in São Paulo state.

The company also has a contract with Neonergía to set up a network for smart electricity meters at its operations center.

However, for private networks to have more momentum, work still needs to be done in the ecosystem of business partners. "We are leaders because we have an ecosystem of partners that guarantees that the solution will work," Sosa said.

The director for the Southern Cone of Ericsson, Rodrigo Dienstmann, had also previously told reporters the lack of an ecosystem was the main barrier to the deployment of private networks in the region.

Sosa said that in the mining industry, it is important to have agreements and approvals with other players, such as truck manufacturers.

According to a study by Bell Labs, the impact of private networks and 5G on security, productivity and efficiency (SPE) is up to six times in agriculture, five times in mining, nine times in logistics and up to 11 times in manufacturing.