Nokia will start production of 5G AirScale base stations that offer higher capacity for telecom service providers at its Oragadam facility near here.

The Finnish major had tested and manufactured the new product in small numbers at its plant in Finland. However, ‘mass production’ will happen at Oragadam factory. Shipment of new product will commence in a week, said its Chief Operating Officer Monika Maurer.

The multi-band base station will meet growing domestic and global demand for mobile broadband and also support Indian government’s Make in India vision. By 2020, there will be 46 billion devices fuelling demand for mobile broadband. This will create greater need for energy-efficient and compact AirScale broadband base station offering huge capacity and connectivity, a company press release said.

The base station will allow telecom service providers to make performance increase in networks and upgrade or migrate to 5G and Internet of Things, Maurer told newspersons at Oragadam plant on celebration of Chennai Technology Day.

The new product will be exported to many countries where 5G penetration is there, said Maurer without giving further details.

Federico Guillen, President — Fixed Networks, Nokia, said initiatives like smart cities will take India on the path to smarter and more connected nation through higher use of high speed broadband network. Higher usage of broadband increases a country’s GDP, he said.

Production target Sudarshan Pitty, Head of Manufacturing Operations, Chennai Factory, Nokia, said since starting production a decade ago, the factory has so far manufactured nearly 3.8 million units. “We will achieve the four-million units milestone next year,” he said.

Established in 2008, the Chennai factory is Nokia’s biggest production unit serving both domestic and global markets with half of all radio base stations produced being exported to global markets. It is one of the few facilities to adopt technologies such as IoT, robotics and automated ‘Industry 4.0’ solutions to enhance overall efficiency in manufacturing operations, he said.

Pitty said the company has launched a Technology Garage (innovation lab) to create a platform to work with students and specialists in creating innovative products.

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