Opticoms starts its Connected Enterprise initiative by opening 5G Co-creation Lab in Munich, Germany powered by Airspan Networks, Druid Software and Fibrolan
The 5G Co-creation Lab offers enterprises across several industries the opportunity to explore, prototype, deploy and put 5G at the heart of their business transformation.
Munich, Germany – September 30, 2021 – Opticoms kick-started a Connected Enterprise strategy by opening a 5G lab in Munich to enable industry partners to experiment with the benefits of 5G and reduce the costs of use case development via quick prototyping of industrial applications in an industry-ready 5G environment.
The multidisciplinary team of experts together with the ecosystem partners including Airspan Networks and Druid Software will help enterprises to identify process inefficiencies and explore innovative use cases, with a focus on how advanced wireless techniques like 5G, or Wi-Fi6 are transforming industries and bringing significant return on investment (ROI). Services include strategy and planning, use case design and development, network planning and design, cost-benefit analysis and mid-term project planning.
Single stop to define & design the transformation path with 5G
Opticoms and its’ partners in the 5G Lab will offer several options for enterprises to build their end-to-end solutions. The teams at the Lab will integrate the latest networking, cloud and edge computing technologies with cutting edge ORAN-based 5G connectivity, modular OTT and application environment.
According to the BMWI report, a demand of between 5,000 to 10,000 5G campus networks in Germany by 2025 is forecasted. Opticoms targets to help enterprises to plan, design and deploy the campus networks in the coming years. Some of the key areas that can benefit from the cooperation:
- Manufacturing: Besides greenfield deployments, finding retro-fit solutions to bring already existing investment to the next performance level is on the agenda for most companies. Solutions could be combined with 5G and low range wireless technologies like BLE, Zigbee and wide area networks like LoRa if needed. Some use cases would be predictive maintenance, autonomous mobile robots (AMR/AGV), and condition-based monitoring via sensors etc.
- Construction: Considered less mature in digitalisation, advanced wireless technologies are providing technological leaps in construction. Real-time process monitoring, field-BIM synchronisation, localization and asset management, connected worker, remote support via AR are only some of the use cases.
- Warehouse: The majority of the costs in a warehouse are triggered by travel distances and the picking & packing process. Several use cases like asset tracking, IoT & image-based quality control, mobile robots (AMR/AGV), Automated Storage and Retrieval (AS/RS) can drive cost reduction through technology.
- Safety: Safety, both for workers and plants in total, is one of the most important aspects for enterprises. Refinery processes and chemicals are some key industries which need smart solutions to improve safety and regulatory compliance. Some examples of use cases that could improve safety include robotic gas leak detection, video as a sensor, PA communication, geo-fencing, and lone worker protection.
“5G opens a new chapter in connectivity and automation to all industries and enables the availability of the data from the field, which is a must for artificial intelligence and automated decision making. By embracing 5G, enterprises will not only create actionable insights, but open a path towards full automation,” said Johann S. Schmid, CEO of Opticoms GmbH. “Our 5G Lab in Munich is built to help enterprises to define and design their transformation path and help them to build and monetize customized end-to end solutions for their business.”
Innovation Ecosystem
With many years of experience in telecommunications, Opticoms has partnered with key vendors and solution providers to build the 5G Co-creation Lab.
Airspan Networks: Airspan is a U.S.-based provider of ground-breaking, disruptive software and hardware for 5G networks with a strong presence of multiple 5G and Open RAN private network deployments in Europe. Airspan is a pioneer in end-to-end Open RAN solutions, and has strong expertise in Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network densification solutions, with an expansive portfolio of indoor and outdoor connectivity.
Airspan, which is the only provider of RAN (Radio Access Network) equipment at the Lab, has provided its full Open RAN solution of software and hardware, including a Centralized Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU) and radio unit (RU). In addition, the Airspan 5G Starter Kit has been deployed to power this private network testbed. The Lab is using the 3.7 – 3.8 GHz spectrum the German government has made available to private enterprises to help drive innovation.
“We are delighted to partner with Opticoms to bring innovative solutions for accelerating the deployments of private 5G infrastructure based on Airspan’s OpenRANGE solution,’’ said Airspan’s Giuseppe Bernini, VP of Business Development in Europe. “Our participation in this innovative Lab is another demonstration of Airspan’s focus on providing end-to-end integration, automation and plug-n-play features for our partners and customers, and further expands our presence in the German and European market.”
Druid: Druid Software are market leaders in 5G SA (stand-alone) cellular core networks for business use. Their RaemisTM 5G and 4G platform has been widely deployed with Enterprise globally and exceeds Mobile Network Operator QoS/QoE (Qualify of Service, Quality of Experience) reliability and latency metrics, which is paramount for mission and business critical environments. “We are delighted to partner with Opticoms in their “Connected Enterprise” initiative which is enabling industry partners to experiment and understand the benefits of our RaemisTM technology for industrial applications in an industry-ready 5G environment,” said Liam Kenny, CEO of Druid Software Ltd.
In addition to the network components and network intelligence provided by Airspan, Druid and Fibrolan a network management solution is being built together to carry out tasks like provisioning, slice creation, performance monitoring etc. to operate multiple technologies like 5G, Wi-Fi and LoRa through a single platform.
About Opticoms
Opticoms GmbH, located in Munich, Germany with strong experience in Telecommunications and IT delivers the connectivity solutions to enterprises enabling the transformation journey. As one of the first local spectrum license owners in Germany and with strong ecosystem partner in networking, device, process analytics and AI, Opticoms can deliver an end to end running solutions. Keeping E2E processes and ROI always in the center, they are providing process analysis and automation, network design and deployment and system integration services using the advanced wireless technologies like 5G.
Be Future Ready | www.opticoms.de
Airspan Networks Holdings Inc. (NYSE American: MIMO) is a U.S.-based provider of ground-breaking, disruptive software and hardware for 5G networks, and a pioneer in end-to-end Open RAN solutions that provide interoperability with other vendors. As a result of innovative technology and significant R&D investments to build and expand 5G solutions, Airspan believes it is well-positioned with 5G indoor and outdoor, Open RAN, private networks for enterprise customers and industrial use applications, fixed wireless access (FWA), and CBRS solutions to help mobile network operators of all sizes deploy their networks of the future, today. With over one million cells shipped to 1,000 customers in more than 100 countries, Airspan has global scale. For more information, visit www.airspan.com.
About Druid Software
Druid Software is a core cellular network software company based in Ireland. Established in 2001 Druid has evolved into one of the world’s leaders in Private 5G & 4G Cellular technology over the last 20 years. Druids RAEMIS™ platform is a mature 3GPP compliant 4G/5G core network, with unique features designed specifically for business and mission critical use.
Druids mature RAEMIS™ platform is in use today by ISPs and Enterprises for mission critical environments in the U.S, Asia and Europe. Druid technology enables solutions in different areas including enterprise communications, IoT, mobile edge computing, and public safety. For more information, visit www.druidsoftware.com.
About Fibrolan:
Fibrolan is the leading vendor of O-RAN xHaul and Sync solutions. Fibrolan’s Falcon series is being used by dozens of operators and system integrators, through global partnerships.
The Falcon delivers an unparalleled combination of flexibility, performance, and accuracy, leveraging the company’s many years of expertise in transport and timing.
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