By Kathy Gibson – The constant rate of technological change means that tech companies have to constantly reinvent themselves to ensure they stay relevant.
A case in point is Nokia. It’s many years now since Nokia was the world’s leading mobile phone provider – but the company is as relevant today as it was in the 1990s when it almost single-handedly led the handheld device revolution.
In fact, Nokia has always been a leading light in the networking and telecommunications space, and prides itself on making a difference in the environment and social spheres too.
These are among the company directions that Nokia is highlighting with its recent rebranding exercise, says Mikko Lavanti, senior vice-president of Mobile Networks for MEA at Nokia.
“Our core message is that we are creating the tech that helps the world act together,” he says.
So, even though it’s no longer a mobile phone company, Nokia technology helps people to communicate, while enabling machine-to-machine communication as well. And, in the future, as the metaverse becomes a reality, communication between humans and machines will be seamless too, he adds.
The new-look Nokia consists of four business groups.
The technology group is all about providing the backend services and networks that enable communication. “None of today’s smartphones would work without us,” Lavanti says. “Because all phones today use Nokia patents to enable them to operate.”
These are not only patents from the company’s heyday as a mobile phone vendor but include a host of new innovations like essential 5G technology.
“Don’t forget, Nokia technology holds nine Nobel prizes,” Lavanti adds. “And we continue to invest, and to innovate for the future.”
The other business groups are mobile networks, IP and fixed networks, and cloud and network services.
Mobile networks includes all mobile network products, network deployment and technical support services, and related network management.
This business group offers the full portfolio for customers wanting to buy mobile access networks, leveraging Nokia’s leadership in key technologies such as 5G, ORAN and vRAN.
The IP and fixed networks business includes IP routing, optical networks and fixed networks, as well as the Alcatel Submarine Networks business.
This division addresses the growing market need for higher capacity, greater reliability, faster speeds and lower costs.
The cloud and network services includes Nokia Software, the company’s enterprise solutions, core network solutions including both voice and packet core, and managed and advanced services.
This unit also acts as a delivery channel of certain products from other business groups to enterprise customers.
By far the largest of these business units is mobile networks, which Lavanti looks after in the EMEA region.
“In South Africa, we are working to build 5G networks, but also 4G, which is still very widely in use. In fact we also have 3G and 2G in this region. Whatever the flavour, we work with telcos to plan, build and maintain their mobile networks.”
Nokia’s mobile networks are key components in the infrastructure bringing Internet access to Africa, connecting via subsea cables, crossing the continent and then enabling users to access data.
“We believe we are helping to create a better world with communication,” Lavanti says.
Technology is obviously the foundation on which Nokia has built its business, but the company also takes the softer issue like health and safety, ethics, social investment and sustainability very seriously.
“We invest a lot in health and safety, which is important,” Lavanti says. “And we believe that being an ethical business is very important too.
“For nine years in a row, Nokia has been named as the most ethical business in the industry. We have very clear guidelines about what is right or wrong, and zero tolerance for any form of unethical behaviour.
“This is so important to us that we also train our customers and the governments of countries where we do business in ethics.”
Sustainability to the fore
Sustainability is a burning issue for organisations the world over. With the effects of climate change being felt ever more strongly, often with devastating consequences, sustainable practices are now demanded.
Nokia is working to lower its own carbon footprint, as well as that of the networks it supplies to customers. The company has committed to reducing its total global greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) to net zero by 2040, accelerating its previous target by 10 years, and putting it ahead of the Paris Agreement target of net zero by 2050.
Nokia will also double down on its existing near-term, or 2030, target. Having already committed to halving its GHG emissions across Scope 1,2 and 3 by 2030 from a 2019 baseline, it will further accelerate the decarbonisation of its own operations.
The telecommunications sector is said to be a major contributor to carbon emissions, with global research indicating around 2,5% of total emissions originate from this sector. To this end, Nokia is addressing the amount of power its equipment consumes and actively working to reduce this consumption. The newest kit now consumes about 50% less power than the equivalent did just 18 months ago. And this will be reduced further as new chips go into production.
A good example is East African mobile telco Safaricom, which realised that its 4G/5G network energy consumption accounted for a staggering 50% of annual operational expenditure.
With high energy consumption, escalating electricity tariff and carbon emission, Safaricom engaged Nokia for a solution which prompted an Energy Savings Proof of Concept, a key initiative towards optimising energy consumption and reducing carbon footprint in Kenya.
AI models and machine learning predicted network traffic and adjusted shutdown times dynamically to extend savings windows compared to static schedules, avoiding any degradation of network performance. Supervised learning permanently adjusted predictions based on the latest load and network performance feedback.
The result is a coherent energy control that dynamically adapts energy consumption to traffic levels while maintaining a premium user experience.
The PoC was executed across approximately 36 sites in Kisumu (Kenya) and achieved a remarkable 20% reduction in power consumption.
While the initial focus is on base stations, this energy optimisation approach can be expanded to encompass other critical components of Safaricom’s network, including air conditioning systems, data centers, EPC, and the passive port of the site.
But it’s not just the raw power used to run the hardware that needs to be considered, Lavanti says. Operations are vital in reducing the load, so smart software that monitors traffic and switches off radios when they’re not needed further reduces power consumption and helps to reduce emissions.
As technology permeates every aspect of our lives, the environmental impact of the hardware needed to deliver it grows. “We need to think more clearly about where emissions happen, and what the ICT industry contributes to overall power consumption,” Lavanti says.
A hot topic at the moment is the need for better logistics management, and a concerted move towards a circular economy, he adds.
Social investment
In addition, social investment is important to Nokia, and it has several programmes aimed to bringing Internet connectivity to underprivileged communities.
A recent example is Fibertime’s Kayamandi Fibre Project, which aims to connect unconnected communities.
As a key technology partner, Nokia provides both fibre access nodes and fiber modems to connect a WiFi network across the entire township.
The team worked closely to use the conventional Nokia Fibre-to-the-X (FTTX) solution to provide a highly scalable solution for the Kayamandi Fiber Project. Users are offered unlimited data, but on a time-based and pay-as-you-go pricing scheme, which is both more cost-effective and user-friendly than mobile data solutions.
Fibertime started the Kayamandi Fiber Project in 2022 and has already connected close to 10 000 homes.
Nokia believes that education is key in uplifting communities, with digitalisation requiring that new skill sets be developed on the continent.
Forge Academy, launched at the end of 2020, was powered by Nokia in partnership with Business Finland, EduExcellence and the United Nations.
The academy gives students and entrepreneurs access to an incubator that has industry-relevant accredited courseware, hardware and platforms along with hands-on experiences that will position them for current artificial intelligence, augmented reality, virtual reality and digital media opportunities. They also aim to bridge the mismatch between youth skills and employer needs, enabling them to adapt to Industry 4.0.
“We don’t want to simply do business in this region: we want to do good business,” Lavanti says. “We want to have an impact, hence we have a purpose.”
In Africa, the overriding purpose is getting connected. The continent is now more connected via undersea cables than ever, and the Internet is truly available throughout Africa.
Nokia plays a major role in providing the clean networks that are needed for mission-critical customers like hyperscalers and multinational organisations.
There are opportunities for the provision of DWM technology to roll fibre out across the continent; and for the latest semiconductors that help to reduce power consumption.
“It is about being able to bring data to users quickly and securely.”
Security is top of mind for all organisations, and no less for the network providers. “If you lose your connectivity, nothing will work. So we need to protect the network against attacks.”
And, of course, Nokia is a leader in radio technology, offering telcos everything they need from the base panel to the radio in the mast, with greater performance and less power consumption.
Technologies of the future
“Every three months, we bring out a new release – and every one increases capacity, decreases power, and improves remote connectivity.”
In the MEA (Middle East and Africa) region, Novia signed up 11 new customers last year, including MTN – one of Africa’s leading telcos.
And operators are already planning for new technology, with 6G set to debut by 2028.
“In Africa, 5G is not even a reality yet,” Lavanti points out. “It has just 11% penetration in the whole of EMEA, and less than that in Africa. This means there is a huge opportunity there for growth.”
Every 5G radio that Nokia ships is also ready to convert to 6G, so there is an upgrade path built into new 5G deployments.
You can’t have a technological discussion these days within mentioning artificial intelligence (AI), and Lavanti believes it will soon be pervasive in all parts of the network.
“We will see AI in our R&D, in our products and our applications, and in our support. “Already, our products are self-learning and self-healing.”
Another trend that has cooled off somewhat but is still very relevant is the metaverse, spanning industrial, enterprise and private applications.
“In the industrial metaverse, digital twins is a key application,” Lavanti says. “So we build digital twins of our radio sets so we can monitor them effectively.”
The API economy has moved beyond hype and is not a reality, he adds. “Things like the network as code allows workloads and transaction to take place on the network level.
Today we are forging ahead in developing the Internet of Things. In the future, we will shift our focus to the Internet of Value, Lavanti says.
When we talk about 6G, we start to realise Web 3.0 and the emergence of blockchains. Today, we transfer data; soon we will be able to move or transfer value in the same way.
“To be able to trust that the value is genuine, the network and the cloud have to build differently. Today they are separate entities, but they will need to come together in the future, with security built in.
“We are still a long way from achieving the Internet of Value, but that is the vision and we are working towards it.”