With the goal to boost emergency response, security, and inspections, Swisscom Broadcast has selected Nokia to deploy 300 drones across Switzerland.
On Thursday, Swisscom Broadcast announced that it has chosen Nokia to implement a Drones-as-a-Service network throughout Switzerland. The plan involves deploying 300 Nokia drone units to facilitate emergency response, security, and infrastructure inspections, all while ensuring the safety of public safety personnel.
This partnership aims at industrial applications, automation, and Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) operations. The nationwide deployment will provide scalable Drone-as-a-Service through Nokia’s drone-in-a-box solution, including drones, docking stations, cameras, and software, with integration for third-party systems.
However, neither of the companies disclosed any financial information about this deal.
The drones will gather vital emergency data to ensure worker safety. This would be achieved by inspecting hard-to-reach areas and supporting 3D mapping and asset detection with Nokia MXIE. Nokia and Swisscom will ensure compliance with spectrum and aviation safety standards.
The partnership will facilitate Swiss public safety agencies to easily access the nationwide drone network via Swisscom Broadcast, similar to a ride-sharing service.
Expressing his pleasure in the deal, Dominik Müller, CEO at Swisscom Broadcast, said: “The integration of our existing people density tool and our drone operations expertise with Nokia’s industrial-grade hardware in combination with an open and future-proof Software architecture is an important key to supporting such large-scale projects.”
On the other hand, Raghav Sahgal, President of Cloud and network Services at Nokia noted, “The collaboration incorporates our mission-critical industrial edge (MXIE) technology to power its advanced computing functions and software. It will undoubtedly help Swiss enterprises gain access to a superior Drones-as-a-Service offering to enhance worker and public safety.”
This is Nokia’s second national drone network deployment after Belgium’s Citymesh project.
