Antti Pehkonen, Sales Manager at Edzcom: Port of Kokkola is a model of utilizing a wireless network

When Edzcom’s Antti Pehkonen meets his international customers, he presents Port of Kokkola as an excellent example of the many ways the wireless LTE network can be used in daily operations. The wireless network brings different digital solutions into a practical part of the port’s operational management.

By utilizing the LTE network built by Edzcom, information is constantly collected about the activities taking place in the port area.

When, for example, maintenance workers had to climb ladders to the heights of the cabin of the port crane, to read sensor and alarm data or fuel quantity information, that information is now transmitted wirelessly to mobile devices.

Or think about the 15 companies and their employees who are daily operating in the port area, who need information about the port’s real-time situation? The real-time situation data collected for them with the help of a wireless network is now flexibly shared on several digital platforms. In this way, it is possible to see the snapshot regardless of the location, from your workplace, home, or when commuting.

And we shouldn’t forget all the machines and equipment, the reliability of which is vital for smooth port logistics. Information about machines and devices is transmitted via the LTE network, which can be used to remotely analyse the maintenance needs, for example, of the port cranes, and predict malfunctions before the cranes threaten to fail.

Naturally, the network also serves many other functions, such as the camera system and lighting control in the port area.

– It’s amazing how Port of Kokkola has started to develop the LTE network and the many ways they are using it today and continuing to develop it for new purposes. All in all, an excellent demonstration of digitization and knowledge-based management, and that is why the solutions implemented in the port of Kokkola are of great interest to our international customers, summarises Antti Pehkonen.

IN 2019 EDZCOM delivered to Port of Kokkola a wireless network, to which seven base stations are connected covering a total area of 580 hectares. In addition to bringing together the production equipment and the companies operating in the port, the network connects all three parts of the port. During the past spring, the LTE network has been updated to also meet future needs.

The updated network has now two mobile cores instead of the previous one, which are the brains of the entire network. This duplication of capacity brings more operational reliability to the operational activities of the port. According to Pehkonen, the 4G network will continue to perfectly serve the needs of the