Wireless networks key enablers for mining’s transformation

A few weeks ago, I stumbled upon a social media survey that was asking “Who is driving digital transformation in your company?”

The three possible answers given were: “(A) The CEO”, “(B) The CTO” and “(C) COVID-19”. Of course, it was a meme but I’m that sure most of the respondents actually replied with C…

In an already volatile and challenging market environment, the COVID-19 restrictions imposed by governments and social distancing rules have forced mining companies to slow down production or put their operations on hold.

So, once the corona-crisis is over, mining operators will have to reinvent themselves, rethink their operations and adopt new ways of working.

In the ‘new normal,’ productivity, efficiency and worker health and safety will be more important than ever.

Many mining operators have already started engaging in Industry 4.0 projects, and – as part of an effective response to the pandemic – we can only expect these initiatives to accelerate.

The rewards of digital transformation can be substantial. Advances in technologies like the industrial internet of things, artificial intelligence and virtual reality will enable miners to optimize decision making, automate manual processes and eventually replace all manual operations with fully autonomous systems.

While having the ability to see and effectively track people and assets is essential for worker safety.

But to get the best out these technologies, having robust and high-performing wireless connectivity in all mining areas is essential.

Unfortunately, many mines still rely on old networks that weren’t created to cater for the demands of ultra-broadband and mission-critical use cases.

At Nokia, we believe that building a state-of-the-art communication network is the best starting point for post-COVID-19 decision-making and for creating safer, more efficient and productive mines.

An industrial-grade private wireless network provides a single infrastructure for fast, reliable and secure data, mission-critical push-to-talk/push-to-video communications, low-power IoT applications as well as real-time video transmission in mine settings that are characterized by highly challenging deployment conditions.

Today, Nokia already supports more than 40 mine sites that are accelerating their digital transformation by deploying our Industrial-grade Private Wireless networks — above and underground.