Drone-as-a-service: Nokia and Swisscom will envelop Switzerland with a network of UAV systems with 4G/5G connectivity

Nokia has agreed with the telecommunications company Swisscom Broadcast to form a Drones-as-a-Service network of 300 UAVs in Switzerland. Nokia’s press service reports that priority users will be the country’s emergency services, industrial enterprises and other structures that require operational aerial surveillance. Customers will be able to book drone flights without having to fly them themselves.

The telecom operator itself states that at the first stage it will offer three services. One is intended for emergency services required to fight fires, crimes, etc. The second is a service for checking infrastructure – power lines, bridges, buildings, etc., where it is difficult to reach or where a person may be in danger. Finally, we are talking about the “perimeter protection” service – UAVs will be used to monitor public places, places of detention, borders and even military facilities.

Image source: Nokia

Nokia announced that each drone-in-a-box kit includes the industrial-grade drone itself, a docking station, a ground control station, a set of video and infrared cameras, software and components for maintaining the equipment. The solution supports 4G/5G connectivity to public and private networks. UAVs are certified for use beyond the operator’s line of sight (BVLOS). The entire fleet of drones will be controlled from a single remote control center. Probably, all this will not be cheap – the price of the project has not been reported, and there has been no response to journalists’ requests.

Image source: Nokia

Nokia is not new to the creation of such UAV networks. It already introduced a similar 5G-based option in Belgium together with technology company Citymesh last year. The network consists of 70 drones distributed across 35 rapid response zones and is also designed to assist in emergency situations. Apparently, the project was implemented successfully enough for Switzerland to decide to create a similar network.