Cellular network infrastructure provider Baicells announced it has signed a partnership agreement with Indonesian telco Smartfren Telecom to supply 4G and 5G network solutions for private networks in Indonesia.
Under the partnership, Baicells will deliver turnkey network solutions to Smartfren for digital industrialization, automation, and private wireless offerings it plans to launch this year, starting with a private LTE network serving large heavy mining environments outside of Jakarta.
Baicells will contribute its portfolio of outdoor 4G LTE Nova and 5G NR Aurora all-in-one high power radios to Smartfren, who will operate as the service provider and system integrator.
The network will initially be used to connect the fleet of autonomous vehicles being used at mining sites, including large earth moving and removal machines. Other use cases can be added later, such as IoT sensors, voice communications and video monitoring, Baicells said.
Baicells also said private 4G and 5G networks are suitable for mining environments which are typically located in remote areas where commercial mobile broadband connectivity is weak or non-existent. Private 4G and 5G is also a better connectivity option than Wi-Fi for use cases like autonomous vehicles, as it provides specific QoS levels and low latency for enabling the predictive performance necessary for autonomous vehicles.
Baicells said the first trials for the private network have been completed, and the first deployments will operate on the 2300-MHz LTE band. The network is scheduled to go live in the first quarter of this year.
"We continue to experience rising demand for private networks to help deliver enterprises of all types the benefits in transforming their business with automation and more,” said Bai Wei, GM of Baicells’ international division.
The Baicells deal is the latest move by Smartfren to chase the private networks market in Indonesia. In January, Smartfren signed an industry agreement with wireless transport and access solutions company Aviat Networks to deliver private wireless indoor and outdoor networks and industry digitalisation and automation services to private network customers across the country.