Developed alongside the Indian Institute of Science, the Nokia Centre of Excellence is described as a ‘state-of-the-art network robotics laboratory’ which will promote collaboration between academia, start-ups and general industry in order to develop new tech applications of robotics, 5G and AI for sectors such as emergency management, agriculture and industrial automation.
The research hub will work on 5G based solutions to social problems, and will plug into work being done at Nokia Bell Labs’ in robot orchestration, robot network control and human-robot interaction. IISc will bring to the table its in-house expertise in algorithms, drones and robotic systems.
Some early examples of things the centre will be working on include using 5G drones for remote management of agricultural orchards, collecting information on the area of an emergency situation for analysis before first responders arrive, and anticipating crop fires.
“The ultimate relevance of technology is to find solutions to improve the quality of our lives,” said Professor Rangarajan, Director of IISc.“Collaboration with a global technology leader, Nokia, will go a long way in helping our students to gain knowledge and insights and make significant contributions to the development of innovative and societally relevant 5G use cases. This is a critical initiative and it will help us move closer to finding technology-powered solutions to enrich our lives.”
Sanjay Malik, Senior Vice President and Head of India Market at Nokia added: “Emerging technologies such as the 5G have potential to enable an entirely new array of use cases with a profound societal impact. With Nokia’s rich innovation heritage, we aim to engage with the bright and young minds at IISc to nurture and advance the latest technologies that can benefit communities. We are confident that it will lead to the development of groundbreaking use cases.”
The telecoms industry spent a number of years bigging up 5G as the bringer of a brave new world in which everything will be transformed by low latency connectivity. Perhaps somewhat in response to the fact that the obvious benefits thus far remain elusive to many outside the sector, there have been a few labs like this cropping up which seem to be at least partially about getting a group of boffins together and giving them the assignment of grinding out some useful applications, since they are not being generated in abundance organically. Still, the suggested research here sound practical and useful enough, so it might end up doing just that.
Nokia and AT&T Mexico in new 5G partnership
Under the agreement, Nokia will provide its energy-efficient 5G AirScale RAN equipment for AT&T’s 5G deployment in the country. Nokia will also provide connectivity for 3G and 4G services using the same hardware while offering an upgrade path to 5G.
“We are committed to providing our customers with the best experience possible,” Nicole Rodriguez, CTO at AT&T Mexico, said. “As we move forward with the deployment of our 5G network, we need the latest technology and the most reliable support services."
Research from Nokia and Omdia indicated that 5G will enable US$730 billion of social and economic output in Mexico by 2035. ICT manufacturing, services, retail, real estate and construction will be the industries most impacted by the technology.
Alongside the 5G deployment, Nokia will also support the development of a 5G lab aimed at growing Mexico’s 5G ecosystem. Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia added: “We are excited to be part of this important milestone as a strategic partner for AT&T Mexico.
“Our latest AirScale portfolio creates a strong foundation for the operator's 5G evolution, enabling super-fast mobile connectivity and innovative use cases for its customers.”
Nokia has been rapidly expanding its 5G partnership portfolio in the past few months. The vendor recently signed a 5G deal with Ice in Norway, increasing its 5G coverage and performance across both dense-urban and wide-area locations.
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