Nokia and Kyndryl today expanded a partnership aimed at providing specialized 4G LTE and 5G private wireless networking for industrial enterprises.

By combining Nokia’s wireless equipment and services with Kyndry’s consulting, design, and managed services, the companies intend to improve how enterprises manufacture and distribute products with the aid of IoT, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence.

Nokia and Kyndryl pointed to multiple proof-of-concept applications designed for Dow that support worker safety, asset tracking, and other operational technologies considered critical for asset-intensive industries. Indeed, manufacturing is described as a primary market segment for the effort. 

The companies also plan to develop additional services for edge cloud, IP networking, optics, fixed access, network core, and network operations software for industrial environments.

Nokia’s Digital Automation Cloud application platform, which addresses private wireless connectivity and operational technology needs in industrial sectors such as manufacturing, logistics, ports, airports, utilities, mining, and agriculture, plays a central role in the combined offering.

For Kyndryl, the deal with Nokia marks another step in its quick and far-reaching plan to distance itself from its former parent IBM. The company inked cloud deals with Microsoft, VMware, and Google Cloud in the span of a month in late 2021 to unequivocally establish its independence from IBM soon after spinning off as a standalone company.

“As enterprises across every industry are seeking new ways to digitally transform their operations, 5G and edge computing grow so they can harness the promise of these emerging technologies,” Paul Savill, global practice leader of network and edge compute for Kyndryl, said in a statement.

Private wireless networks remain an important focus area for Nokia, its competitors, and essentially every IT vendor in the enterprise segment. The radio access network (RAN) vendor jumped from 260 private wireless customers at the end of 2020 to 420 customers at 2021’s close, reflecting a 61.5% year-over-year increase.