Swisscom Broadcast Taps Nokia to deploy Drones-as-a-Service network

Swisscom Broadcast has selected Nokia to deploy a nationwide Drones-as-a-Service network across Switzerland. 300 Nokia Drone-in-a-Box units are planned for deployment to enable emergency response, perimeter protection and infrastructure inspection, which will help keep public safety workers safe.

This will be the second nationwide Nokia Drone Networks project after Belgium's Citymesh deployment. It will support Switzerland's public safety and Industry 4.0 efforts and highlight Nokia's strength in modernizing digital infrastructure projects and utilizing mission-critical industrial edge computing (MXIE) with the support of 3GPP technologies for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) autonomous operation.

In addition to increasing first responders’ safety, drones support resource optimization and help to save the lives of those involved in incidents. The drones, which are operated remotely, gather relevant information within the first minutes following an emergency, enhancing first responders' situational awareness.

Public safety agencies in Switzerland will easily tap into the nationwide drone network by simply requesting a drone flight, similar to a ride-sharing service, from Swisscom Broadcast. They will also be backed up by a service portfolio with expertise, compliance, data collection and analysis of the collected data from Nokia and Swisscom Broadcast.

The deployment is expected to be available in all areas of Switzerland. Nokia and Swisscom will continue cooperating with competent regulatory bodies to ensure all operations comply with regulatory frameworks, especially from spectrum and aviation safety standpoints.

Drones will also boost worker safety within the Swiss Industry such as inspecting tall or hard-to-reach infrastructure, which removes the need for workers to climb or walk around hazardous areas. As Nokia Drone Networks are an integral part of the Nokia MXIE platform architecture, they enable easy onboarding of additional applications for industrial customers with Edge computing needs, such as creating 3D maps or detecting assets.

The deployment will facilitate reliable Drone-as-a-Service operations at scale in Switzerland with Nokia Drone Networks, a turnkey Drone-in-a-Box solution that integrates the drone, a docking station, a ground control station, a payload with video and thermal cameras, related software, and service components. The solution also supports interfaces and APIs for easy third-party integrations, such as traffic monitoring systems, video management software, dispatch solutions, and industrial inspection and process monitoring systems.

This collaboration with Swisscom Broadcast will also enable the advancement of industrial use cases, automation, beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) operations, and the expansion of 3GPP technologies for drone use in Switzerland.

Dominik Müller, CEO at Swisscom Broadcast, said: “We are pleased to select Nokia as a partner for this important infrastructure project in Switzerland. Together, we can speed up the go-to-market of our Drones-as-a-Service offering to our customers in the industrial and public safety landscape in Switzerland. 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 support such large-scale projects.”

Raghav Sahgal, President of Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, said: “We are proud to partner with Swisscom Broadcast, a true innovator in drones-as-a-services operation, for this important project to establish a nationwide Drone-as-a-Service network in Switzerland. Nokia Drone Networks solution enables large-scale projects as it 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.