What’s the news? AT&T has added Nokia’s end-to-end industrial-grade capabilities to its AT&T Private Cellular Networks solutions. Now businesses across the United States can build private networks through AT&T using Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum and Nokia infrastructure. Both Nokia Digital Automation Cloud and Modular Private Wireless platforms will be offered by AT&T. 

Why is this important? Private networks are increasingly important for businesses – especially in Industry 4.0 environments with a lot of connected devices, where privacy, data control and performance are all crucial.  AT&T’s on-premises edge portfolio, which already includes 5G-capable AT&T Multi-Access Edge Computing (MEC), is expanding to offer these additional private cellular solutions with Nokia to meet those Industry 4.0 needs. 

What can businesses do with these networks? This is a great solution for enterprise customers – including manufacturing, logistics, energy and education – that want to use CBRS LTE private wireless solutions as part of their networking strategy. It can support enterprises in building a more agile business that keeps pace with shifting demand, accelerates digital transformation, and unlocks new IoT opportunities with reliable and predictable connectivity for people, machines and sensors. 

What are people saying? 

• Grant Lenahan, Partner and Principal Analyst for Appledore Research: “There is reason to believe that ‘the fourth industrial revolution’ will remake industries and the economics of production. Considering the majority of industrial site deployments will be based on private wireless, it’s prudent for communication service providers like AT&T to leverage Nokia’s proven private wireless solutions and vertical experience in the near future.”¹ 
• Robert Boyanovsky, Vice President of Mobility and IoT with AT&T: “AT&T is all about connections. Businesses have evolved as much as mobile networks have – and we’ll continue to work with companies like Nokia to deliver the reliable networking solutions and capabilities that our enterprise customers need.” 
• Raghav Sahgal, President of Nokia Enterprise: “We have a long and storied relationship with AT&T, and now we’re tapping into our joint enterprise expertise to help businesses realize the Industry 4.0 opportunity. Nokia is a leader in private wireless deployments, giving us tremendous insights into the challenges and requirements for deploying this technology across multiple industries. We look forward to working with the AT&T team to bring these insights to businesses.” 
• Ricky Corker, President of Customer Operations of Nokia Americas, said: “With our broad portfolio from mobile network solutions to private 5G solutions, Nokia is enabling AT&T to serve the connectivity needs of all of its customers and to help grow its business for Industry 4.0.” 

Where can I find more information? See more about AT&T Private Cellular Networks here, Nokia Digital Automation Cloud here, and Nokia Modular Private Wireless here.

1 Appledore Research report: “5G and Industrial Automation - Telecoms opportunity in the 4th Industrial Revolution” July 2020