The Nordic telco signed a letter of intent with the city of Tampere
Finnish mobile operator Elisa has signed a letter of intent with the city of Tampere, in Finland, to join the city’s smart city initiative.
In the first phase, Elisa will build fiber and mobile networks in Tampere, which will be the basis for the future 5G network.
The main aim of the city-wide project is to create an experimental environment for researching, testing and deploying technological solutions that will improve citizens’ quality of life.
A technical platform for smart lighting, remote care for the elderly by video, a real-time public transport information system and smart buses are examples of new solutions developed in collaboration between several organizations and the Tampere.
“Collaboration with the city of Tampere and the other organizations involved in the project from the earliest phases will enable smart infrastructure and digital connections to be built and to form the basis of the 5G network of the future,” said Mika Railosalo, Elisa’s Vice President of regional sales and SME sales in the Corporate Customers unit.
Elisa’s 4G network currently covers 99% of the country’s population. The telco has approximately 2.3 million customers in the Nordic country.
Huawei launches OpenLab in Bangkok
In related news, Chinese vendor Huawei has officially opened its OpenLab Bangkok to provide ICT infrastructure support for enterprises and government agencies.
The opening of the new facility required an investment of $15 million. Huawei had previously opened similar facilities in Suzhou, Mexico, Munich, Singapore, Johannesburg and Dubai.
The OpenLab Bangkok will support customers and partners offering them an open platform and data center resources.
The OpenLab Bangkok will also facilitate Huawei’s joint innovation and solution launches with its customers and partners in Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries, from various sectors including Smart City, Public Safety, Smart Grid, Finance, Education, Transport, and Internet Service Providers.
The new facility will offer ICT training (800 persons/year); ICT Career Certification (500 persons/year); and Proof Concept Testing (150 persons/year).
Some of the OpenLab Bangkok’s collaboration projects include the Provincial Electricity Authority’s Power ICT Solutions Innovation Project; The Royal Thai Police Public Safety eLTE Trunking Joint Innovation Project; and the King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang’s Smart City Startup Cooperation Project.
Partners in the Bangkok OpenLab include more than 40 international and local companies including SAP, Microsoft, Honeywell, Bombardier, Oracle, Accenture, and Infosys.
