Nokia Corporation and Hitachi Kokusai Electric Inc. have partnered on local 5G and private wireless Long Term Evolution (LTE) solutions for the Japanese conglomerate's industrial and government customers. Spectrum for local 5G will be released in Japan at the end of 2019 for enterprise use.

As part of the collaboration, the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud platform with its secure, reliable and low-latency connectivity will be used for applications including video analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and internet of things (IoT), as well as drones, group communication, and augmented reality/virtual reality (AR/VR). It will also enable autonomous transport vehicles, such as trucks, trains, forklifts and straddle carriers, to increase productivity at factories, utilities, airports and ports.

Nokia and Hitachi Kokusai Electric will collaborate to provide an eco-system of solutions to support the deployment of new digital automation services. Hitachi Kokusai Electric will share its expertise as a leader in driving the adoption of private LTE networks for industry use and disaster prevention in Japan. Nokia will lend its private LTE/4.9G and 5G wireless connectivity solutions, which have established a global marketplace footprint across energy, transportation, public sector, manufacturing and logistics.

The Japanese government is releasing 5G spectrum designated for individual companies and local governments (known in Japan as local 5G) at the end of 2019. This will enable enterprises, regional authorities and other organizations in Japan to deploy the next-generation of industrial-strength wireless connectivity based on LTE and 5G technologies to create local private, reliable networks.

Kaichiro Sakuma, Representative Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hitachi Kokusai Electric, commented, "Industrial-grade private wireless networks will be very important for our industry customers, helping them to become more efficient, automating dangerous operations, and improving worker safety. Our collaboration with Nokia is helping to speed the delivery of these innovative capabilities to the Japanese market."

John Harrington, Head of Nokia Japan, meanwhile said, "Partnerships such as this help us to better serve the increasing needs of local 5G and digitalization technology in Japan…Thanks to our comprehensive end-to-end-portfolio, we are ideally placed to support Hitachi Kokusai Electric and its customers to benefit from secure, highly reliable, ultra-broadband wireless networking."