Private wireless milestone for MEA energy sector

Technology company Nokia and communications company Ooredoo Qatar have established what is understood to be the Middle East and Africa’s (MEA’s) first private wireless network for the energy sector, set to provide dedicated voice and customer data services in the most remote and challenging locations. Nokia will supply cutting-edge products tailored to deliver resilient mission-critical connectivity, along with deployment and care services, with its resident engineers providing expert support to ensure the network operates at optimal level.

The deployed solution covers an initial capacity of 20,000 subscribers for the offshore grid and aims to connect offshore and onshore facilities, ensuring seamless voice and data services. By offering dedicated connectivity, the network is expected to empower customers to digitalise and automate operations, marking a significant step towards enhanced efficiency and productivity.

The solution offers a native offshore system designed to deliver services, seamlessly integrating with the existing commercial core, enabling customers to improve operational efficiency and reduce interruptions from onshore connectivity. The integration is claimed to equally enable the efficient handling of interoperability and interservice handovers, making communication between offshore and onshore locations smoother and more reliable than ever before, while managing latency issues through localised data services to improve process efficiency. It will also improve customer experience, by replacing older Wi-Fi and WiMAX technologies.

“This Nokia enterprise solution, specifically designed for offshore locations, coupled with our delivery capabilities and expertise, ensures that the energy sector can now rely on a robust and resilient connectivity solution,” said Samar Mittal, VP, Cloud and Network Services (CNS), Global Business Center (GBC) at Nokia MEA.

Günther Ottendorfer, CTIO at Ooredoo Qatar, added, “This significant milestone underlines our commitment to transforming communication solutions for challenging environments. This landmark project provides dedicated voice and data services and paves the way for the oil and gas sector and others to replicate such solutions, marking a new era in connectivity for the industry.”

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