In sum – what you need to know
Private 5G for events – Nokia is supplying private 4G/5G for major sports and music events via partners Digita and CoreGo – for payments, access, enterprise management.
Two million connected – over two million event-goers in Europe have already used private 4G/5G to transact and interact; the trio have ‘expanded’ their arrangement.
Made in Finland – all three parties are Finnish firms; Nokia leads the (western) private 4G/5G market; Digita is an integrator and tower-co; CoreGo supplies tech to events.
Finnish vendor Nokia is selling private 5G networks to events companies in its home country, courtesy of a supply deal with local system integrator and tower company Digita, which has a supply deal of its own with local payment solution provider CoreGo. The latter will use Nokia’s Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) solution, which bundles private 4G and 5G for local-area ‘campus’ setups, from single buildings to large multi-site complexes, to support its point-of-sale (POS) and access control deployments at “large Finnish and international events”.
The two-way partnership, with Digita in the middle, has seen “multiple deployments in the last two years” at sports events and music festivals across Europe, apparently – to provide wireless connectivity for event systems such as inventory management, payment terminals, access control, and ticket validation for “over two million” event goers. Digita has now expanded its partnership with CoreGo, said Nokia – without saying exactly how. Digita said in a quote only that the new contract with CoreGo will see it “strengthen [its] expertise” and “expand into the Nordics”.
A statement from Nokia played-up the criticality of both the customer-side use-case and the supply-side application. It stated: “Private networks have proven to be a crucial technology for large public events where real-time and uninterrupted data transfer is critical. They… [enable] efficient electronic ticket sales and verification, reliable payment transactions, smooth use of digital signage, and secure access control. Additionally, [they] enable advanced real-time data analytics, interactive fan engagement, critical staff communications, and geo-location-based services.”
Hannu Elomaa, founder and chief executive at CoreGo, said: “Our goal is to improve the customer experience and support the organisation and event workers in the best possible way by enabling real-time situational awareness. Delivered through our long-term partners, Nokia and Digita, the private wireless solution enabled a first-class service experience, with access control and payment playing a crucial role.”
Pekka Koskinen, head of private network sales at Digita, said: “We are proud that CoreGo chose us as their partner to implement critical event networks in Finland and internationally. This agreement strengthens our expertise in delivering high-quality, scalable, and reliable network solutions, supporting our strategy to expand into the Nordics. The Nokia technology ensures that event data transfer works reliably and efficiently.”
Michael Aspinall, head of enterprise campus edge sales for Nokia in Europe, said: “Private 5G networks deployed with powerful edge cloud processing capabilities are transforming the event industry. Event visitors now have secure access to well-connected services from the moment they purchase their ticket to when they depart the venue. We have successfully collaborated with Digita and CoreGo on multiple projects, and it is great to see that private 5G technology proves its capability in securing reliable data transmission at large events.”
