Nokia has partnered with defence firm Leonardo to secure team-comms on its top-tier private 4G/5G networks – as a ‘Europe-made’ comms bundle for critical industries, including public safety, energy, rail, and defence.
In sum – what to know
Mission critical – Nokia has “selected” Leonardo’s high-security team-comms platform for its high-end NCES private network deployments (sold direct).
Europe made – the solution is pitched as a sovereign team-comms bundle for real-time push-to-anything in public safety, mainline rail, power grids.
Top-tier – the NCES solution is geared for carrier-style macro-sized private 4G/5G, a rung higher than its MPW product, and two higher than DAC.
Nokia has embedded Italian defence contractor Leonardo’s high-security cellular broadband platform into its wide-area (WAN) private networking solution for public safety, power utilities, mainline railways, defence, and other industries. The ‘Europe-made’ tie-up is for the Finnish firm’s largest-scale private 4G and 5G setups, based on its Core Enterprise Solution (NCES) products – which are closer to macro-sized deployments, as run by national operators. It supports billing and legal intercept, plus interoperability with public carriers.
Leonardo’s platform, MC_linX, has been pre-tested and certified as part of Nokia’s blueprint solutions for key segments. It is now integrated into the NCES proposition to support 3GPP-based push-to-talk, video, and data services for real-time comms – for team coordination, situational awareness, and emergency response in ‘mission-critical’ sectors. A press statement said Nokia selected to on-board Leonardo in its NCES product after a “competitive process” – as if MC_linX is its go-to solution for securing team comms.
Leonardo emphasised the “made in Europe” credentials of the joint solution – for secure and reliable sovereign networking and collaboration tools – as an alternative to US or Chinese solutions for regional security-sensitive environments. Nokia said the tie-up with Leonardo, a key aerospace and defence supplier, “strengthens” its position (“leadership”) in “secure and scalable private networks”. Nokia is primarily selling such large-scale critical-grade private 4G and 5G deployments via its direct sales force, rather than via operators and integrators.
Its NCES product, it pointed out, sits a rung higher than its Modular Private Wireless (MPW) private 4G/5G solution in its portfolio. As a point of order, MPW is geared for field-area (FAN) private networks, also for the likes of utility and rail customers, but generally on narrower regional scale. “They are large networks but ‘thin and long’, so they need fewer base stations (BTSs), and support fewer users,” clarified Nokia. MPW deployments also use the firm’s low-footprint Compact Mobility Unit (CMU) for mobile packet core functions.
The NECS model provides higher capacity and deeper functionality – “adapted to… nationwide WAN networks”. For further clarity, Nokia’s Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) core-network solution (now combined as standard with its MXIE server) sits a rung further down in its portfolio, designed for geographically constrained ‘campus’ environments, such as factories, ports, and mines. Nokia has additional compact and micro (backpack) private 4G and 5G products, as well – below the DAC line in its catalogue. It sells DAC and MXIE via indirect and direct channels.
Prakash Sagadopan, head of enterprise wide area networks at Nokia, said: “By combining Nokia’s robust private wireless and core software capabilities with Leonardo’s trusted mission-critical technologies, we are delivering a seamless solution that meets the stringent demands of industries like public safety, energy, and rail. This partnership demonstrates our commitment to empowering critical infrastructure with secure, real-time, resilient communication solutions.”
Claudio Rando, senior vice president of marketing and sales in Leonardo’s cyber and security solutions division, said: “We are thrilled that Nokia selected Leonardo’s MC_linX for the integration into their Core Enterprise Solutions after an in-depth competitive process. Leveraging the high scalability and reliability of our Mission Critical Services platform together with Nokia we provide an entirely made in Europe, unparalleled communication ecosystem for Public Safety and Critical Infrastructures.”
