Japan's KATCH Network taps Nokia for 5G SA private wireless deployment

Nokia's private wireless networking provides customers in the manufacturing sector the scalability, flexibility and coverage needed to advance their digital transformation and meet the current and future requirements of Industry 4.0 applications.

Nokia said Tuesday it has been selected by Japanese operator KATCH Network to provide 5G standalone (SA) private wireless networking throughout the Aichi Prefecture, the nerve center of automotive and high-tech manufacturing in Japan.

Private wireless networks enable the manufacturing, automotive and industrial sectors to accelerate digital transformation and Industry 4.0 by deploying the internet of things (IoT), machine learning, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation, helping them achieve new levels of quality, efficiency and productivity.

Nokia's private wireless networking provides customers in the manufacturing sector the scalability, flexibility and coverage needed to advance their digital transformation and meet the current and future requirements of Industry 4.0 applications.

"Private wireless networking is a crucial component of manufacturing's digital transformation. By offering high-performance 5G networking to businesses locally, KATCH will play an important role in strengthening the region's leadership for manufacturing innovation," said Donny Janssens, Head of Customer Team, Nokia Enterprise Japan.

KATCH will offer autonomous industrial-grade private wireless networks for enterprises and manufacturing companies in the Aichi Prefecture region where it provides cable TV, Internet and telecommunications services.

Besides end-to-end 5G network infrastructure, Nokia and local systems integrator CTC will provide integration and on-going services.

The commercial launch of KATCH's private wireless network offering will commence in Q2 2022. Initially, three base stations will be deployed in the first phase while full deployment will comprise more than 100 cell sites.

Commenting on this development, Tatsuya Yamada, Executive Vice President, KATCH Network, said, "Given Nokia's 5G expertise we can now help Aichi-based manufacturers to benefit from reliable and secure, high-bandwidth networking, which delivers the hyper-fast connectivity and low latency essential for Industry 4.0 use cases."

Nokia said it has deployed mission-critical networks to over 1,550 leading customers across many verticals including transport, energy, large enterprise, manufacturing, webscale, and public sector segments around the globe.