• KATCH to offer autonomous private 5G networks for enterprises and manufacturing companies in West Mikawa region, Aichi Prefecture
• Private wireless to accelerate digital transformation and Industry 4.0 in hotbed of Japanese manufacturing

Nokia has been selected by leading Japanese CATV operator KATCH Network to deliver 5G standalone (SA) private wireless networking throughout the Aichi Prefecture, Japan. KATCH will offer autonomous industrial-grade private wireless networks for businesses in the region.

Through this agreement, KATCH intends to ease and simplify 5G private wireless deployment in the Aichi Prefecture, which is the nerve center of automotive and high-tech manufacturing in Japan. Private wireless networks enable the manufacturing, automotive and industrial sectors to deploy IoT, machine learning, AI and automation for efficiency, safety and productivity gains.

Tatsuya Yamada, Executive Vice President, KATCH Network, said: “With many companies acting as beaconsof manufacturing excellence, there is a huge concentration of industrial companies in Aichi Prefecture. Given Nokia’s 5G expertise we can now help Aichi-based manufacturers to benefit from reliable and secure, high-bandwidth networking, which delivers the hyper-fast connectivity and low latency essential for Industry 4.0 use cases.”

Donny Janssens, Head of Customer Team, Nokia Enterprise Japan, said: “Private wireless networking is a crucial component of manufacturing’s digital transformation. By offering high-performance 5G networking to businesses locally, KATCH will play an important role in strengthening the region’s leadership for manufacturinginnovation.”

KATCH Network provides cable TV, Internet and telecommunications services in the Aichi Prefecture. With a strong focus on the local business community, KATCH anticipates it will also help to establish a thriving ecosystem for 5G private wireless development and digital transformation in the area.

KATCH will begin the commercial launch of its private wireless network offering in Q2 2022. Initially with threebase stations in the first phase, full deployment will comprise more than 100 cell sites. In addition to end-to-end 5G network infrastructure, Nokia and local systems integrator CTC will provide integration and on-going services.

In the manufacturing sector, Nokia private wireless networking gives customers the scalability, flexibility and coverage needed to advance their digital transformation. With strong marketplace appetite for industrial-grade wireless networking to capture the transformational benefits of Industry 4.0, Nokia has pioneered the private wireless space across many verticals and now has more than 260 large enterprise customers, of which over 40 incorporate 5G.

Nokia has deployed mission-critical networks to over 1,550 leading customers in the transport, energy, large enterprise, manufacturing, webscale, and public sector segments around the globe. Leading enterprises across industries are leveraging decades of Nokia experience building some of the biggest and most advanced IP, opticaland wireless networks on the planet.