Espoo, Finland – Nokia has been selected by Citycom Telecommunication Graz to deliver a 5G network covering Graz and the entire province of Styria, Austria. Following deployment, Citycom Graz will offer autonomous industrial-grade private wireless networks for public services and local businesses throughout the region.

With initial implementation focused on IoT for Smart City applications, further use cases are being defined in close collaboration between Nokia and Citycom Graz. The network will also create new revenue opportunities for the city of Graz, as the primary stakeholder in Holding Graz, parent of Citycom Telecommunications Graz.

Over time, Citycom Graz plans to invest more than €10M into the project. As part of this investment, the University of Applied Sciences, Graz will deploy the Nokia IMPACT IoT software platform, enabling it to research and develop future IoT use cases that leverage both local expertise and 5G networking.

To support ongoing technical expertise in the region, the University of Applied Sciences, Graz will develop new IoT applications on the Nokia IMPACT IoT software platform as part of its post-graduate program. It is anticipated that this combination of 5G and IoT technologies will provide a platform for city innovation, developing use cases for deployment in local business and public services.

Nokia IMPACT IoT platform offers a simplified, secure, standards-based, multi-tenant IoT platform to build and scale new IoT services, which enables governments to capture more customers, develop new business models, and differentiate their competitive position in the IoT market.

Bernd Stockinger, General Manager, Citycom Telecommunications Graz, commented: “Given Nokia’s experience in providing robust, reliable private 5G networks we’re now able to provide the connectivity platform for technology innovations that can be utilized by a wide range of local stakeholders and public services providers.”

Patrick Langelaan, Vice President Europe South, Nokia Enterprise, said, “More and more cities are realizing the benefits that low-latency, high-bandwidth connectivity can bring  -- delivering high productivity and efficiency as well as enhanced citizen quality of life. With an ultra-reliable, high-performance 5G network, the city of Graz can take advantage of new applications becoming available, while also creating a local ecosystem of IoT excellence through use case development at the University of Graz.”

As utility entity of Holding Graz, Citycom Graz will deliver the commercial launch of the network in Q1 2021. Initially with 50 macro base stations in the first phase, full deployment will comprise more than 200 sites. In addition to end-to-end 5G networking and IoT IMPACT platform, Nokia will also provide ongoing managed services, network planning and optimization.

Citycom Graz is the latest operator to benefit from Nokia’s IMPACT software solution, with customers spanning other parts of Europe, as well as Latin America, Asia Pacific and North America.