By Oystein Bergmann, Bureau Chief, Scandinavia
Nokia Wednesday announced the launch of the Nokia DAC PW Compact, a new configuration optimized to meet the private wireless connectivity needs of small-and mid-sized industrial sites. As more industries move toward digital transformation to improve their business processes, a compact version of Nokia’s market-leading private wireless solution delivers the rigorous security and reliable connectivity that ensures even the smallest enterprise sites can benefit from the transition.
Available for fast delivery, the Nokia DAC PW Compact is designed to address the growing demand for small-medium size campuses. Based on the Nokia AirScale small cells, it delivers pervasive connectivity for both human and machine in the toughest industrial environments. With all the renowned radio performance, ease of use, integration & scalability of the Nokia DAC private wireless solution, its smaller form factor aligns to the coverage requirements of small industrial sites, and with zero upfront investment, Nokia DAC PW Compact offers a cost-effective connectivity option for small industrial premises.
In addition, in keeping with Nokia’s commitment to accelerate digital transformation and green energy adoption, the Nokia DAC PW Compact is up to 60 percent more energy-efficient than Wi-Fi, resulting in much lower energy footprint.
Poor connectivity is hindering some SMEs from achieving their full revenue potential. The logistics sector, according to ABI Research, is forfeiting upwards of US$664 million in annual revenue that mission-critical private cellular technology, such as the Nokia DAC PW Compact, could help to realize. For sectors like warehousing, where sites are densely populated with metal shelves and coverage holes can impact business by causing handover failures, parcel loss, or tracking issues, the compact 5G private wireless solution enhances existing operational uses cases and makes many more possible.
The platform is also suitable for small enterprises within ports, manufacturing, mining, petrochemical, retail, and many more industrial segments. It is easy to use with plug-and-play deployment and IT native operability, and provides configurations for indoor, outdoor, and mixed radio coverage. Larger enterprises deploying the Nokia DAC PW Compact in small facilities will have the confidence of a single multi-site private wireless solution deployed across all their campuses.
As enterprises expand their private wireless deployment over time, there is an easy upgrade path to add incremental capacity, users, and radio configurations, as well as allow for the addition of Wi-Fi technology. Additionally, by converting the deployed edge to Mission Critical Industrial Edge (MXIE), enterprises can transform their private wireless solutions to a full platform for digital transformation thanks to the MXIE capabilities and its selection of Nokia and third-party OT use case applications.
Initially available in the US leveraging CBRS spectrum, Nokia DAC PW Compact is available exclusively through an extensive network of Nokia certified reseller and system integration partners including DXC Technology, Future Technologies Venture LLC, Graybar, and Trilogy NextGen. With stock on hands for many of these channel partners, the customers can choose from one of three predefined configurations for fast delivery of a DAC PW compact system that matches their sites’ requirements. The DAC PW Compact brings an OPEX-based model for zero upfront investment and predictable monthly fee. In addition, it operates through the standard DAC O&M toolkit and can be managed maintained via a range of service level agreements provided by the same partners.
Principal Analyst at ABI Research, Leo Gergs said: “With Nokia DAC PW Compact, Nokia extends their product portfolio in a very important way. Our research shows that Total Cost of Ownership is enterprises’ main factor for deciding which connectivity technology to deploy. It will be providing a very competitive cost structure and TCO to other wireless technologies, like Wi-Fi. Nokia DAC PW Compact will become an important building block for Nokia and its channel partners to create a value proposition around private cellular that is easy to understand and digest for enterprises, particularly in the logistics sector where warehouses, and other segments like ports and airports that might only need a handful of 5G radio units to achieve high levels of constant coverage.”
Vice President of Enterprise Campus Edge Solutions at Nokia, Stephen Litjens said: “With the addition of the Nokia DAC PW Compact to our portfolio, we can now address the growing demand from smaller sites and many industries, such as the growing warehousing segment, who need the secure, low-latency and reliable connectivity provided by private wireless to digitally transform their operations. Regardless of the size of the operation, Nokia has a solution that will connect people, machines, and sensors in an energy-efficient manner and at an economical price point – equipping an even wider range of industries for their journey to Industry 4.0.”
