Nokia considers operators key to private 5G

INTERVIEW: Nokia claims its long-standing operator relationships are a unique selling point for it in the private 5G network sector, a market which is more about how connectivity boosts productivity than technology alone.

Chris Johnson, head of Nokia’s Global Enterprise Business, told Mobile World Live the industries it works with today are more focused on integrating connectivity with local ecosystems.

Explaining the bulk of Nokia’s private networks custom currently comes from campus-style deployments for industries including mining, container ports and airport, Johnson noted the vendor is not “selling a network”, but rather working on deployments which integrate “with a local ecosystem”.

Nokia’s position as integrator is “the differentiator”, because in the private connectivity space “it’s not about selling a network or buying a network, it’s about something that basically makes your environment more productive, makes it safer, more agile”.

Johnson noted operator relationships are also key when it comes to managing spectrum, which is subject to different approaches across the world.

Nokia’s “expertise at engaging with the telcos and our partnership with the telcos” is “really useful for facilitating” spectrum management, so making operator collaborations “a major go-to-market force” in the private network market.

Johnson also discussed how 5G is opening new industrial sectors for Nokia, and why the technology is becoming essential as the number of sensors and things being connected rises exponentially.