Intelligent CIO Europe Issue 21 | Page 15

NEWS Ericsson and Elisa pilot private networks in Finland E ricsson, an industry leader in providing connectivity services, has joined with Elisa, the Finnish-based telecommunications, ICT and online service company, to pilot private networks in Finland. Designed to help service providers offer scalable, mission-critical broadband solutions for industries and public safety agencies, the Ericsson Private Networks solution will enable Elisa’s enterprise customers to gain control of users, devices and traffic on the local private networks, providing greater security and an increased capacity for high demand. The pilot tests were conducted at Elisa’s facilities in the first of half of 2019 using a pre-packaged Ericsson Private Network solution that included Ericsson Enterprise Core, Router 6000 and Radio Dot System for indoor coverage. Eetu Prieur, Director of Mobile Solutions at Elisa, commented: “Private networks are expected to spread throughout different industries. Forerunner companies have already identified the benefits of private networks: guaranteed capacity, reliability and security.” Manuel Ruiz, Head of Mission Critical and Private Networks at Ericsson, said: “The Ericsson Private Networks solution comes at a time when capacity, security and other critical communication needs are prompting industries to seek out their own private networks. With its own dedicated networks for enterprises, Elisa will be able to better adapt its service to specific industrial customer needs.” ///////////////// Vodafone completes acquisition of European Liberty Global assets V odafone Group Plc has announced that it has completed the acquisition of Liberty Global’s operations in Germany and the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Romania (CEE) for a total enterprise value of €18.4 billion. next-generation network reach of 124 million homes and businesses. Almost half of Vodafone’s consumer European service revenues now come from growing fixed and converged services. Vodafone now becomes Europe’s leading converged operator with 54 million cable and fibre households ‘on-net’ and a total Vodafone Group CEO, Nick Read, said: “With the acquisition of Liberty’s assets in Germany and CEE, we have completed www.intelligentcio.com our transformation into Europe’s leading converged operator. “Not only have we reshaped our business, becoming the owner of the largest gigabit-capable next-generation network infrastructure in the region, we are now able to play our part in realising the digital society for millions of customers.” INTELLIGENTCIO 15