First dedicate LTE network for mining and Industry 4.0 in Indonesia
Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, 25th February 2019 – Smartfren Indonesia, together with core-network partner Athonet, announced the commercial launch of its dedicated LTE network for one of the largest coal mines in the world. The network showcases Smartfren’s ability to bring the full capabilities of the digital world to important industries that support Indonesia’s development. The network delivers the most advanced LTE services with the quality of service required for the digital mine and Industry 4.0. The Athonet core-network allows Smartfren to deliver enterprise based use cases in today’s LTE network and is software upgradeable to 5G without hardware impacts. The deployment shows how mobile operators can modernize enterprise communications with private LTE services from within a mobile operator’s network and paves the way for new digital revenues.
Athonet’s core network has been nominated for THREE Global Mobile Awards at Mobile World Congress 2019 including Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough, Best Network Software Breakthrough and Best Mobile Innovation for Enterprise (Industry 4.0).
Mining represents one of the most challenging and demanding environments to provide business critical communications services. In recent years, mine operators have sought more advanced technologies that can provide superior and reliable broadband solutions.
When the mine decided to implement a high-performance communications network for a digital mine, they chose to deploy a dedicated LTE network from Smartfren powered by the award-winning Athonet mobile core network.
Previously, the biggest barrier to the deployment of a sophisticated LTE network such as this for an enterprise has been the cost and complexity of the LTE mobile core network and often tied to proprietary technology. By replacing the complex hardware-based, monolithic and proprietary architecture of legacy network providers with a fully software- based network from Athonet running on standard off-the-shelf hardware and an easy-to-use web-based management, Smartfren was able to deliver the most sophisticated mobile operator solution as a dedicated network in an isolated region.
In addition to providing coverage for the digital mine, the network also brings LTE coverage for data and voice to the local population, bridging the digital divide in one of the most challenging archipelagoes for providing LTE coverage.
“Smartfren always adopts the latest and most advanced technology in 4G LTE network connection. We are very pleased that our service together with Athonet’s core network can provide the business solutions for Mines in terms of communications, especially as the first dedicated LTE network for Industry 4.0 in Indonesia. We also very proud that this cooperation can contribute to connecting communities especially in previously unconnected areas.” said Shurish Subramaniam, Chief Technology Officer Smartfren.
“We are pleased to work with innovation leaders like Smartfren to bring connectivity for Industry 4.0 to one of the largest mines in Indonesia while at the same time delivering the internet to previously unconnected communities. It shows how mobile operators have a leading role to play in modernizing enterprise communications infrastructure for resilient, low-latency high bandwidth services,”, added Gianluca Verin, CTO of Athonet.
