Tele2 enables sustainable forestry with AirForestry and Nokia 5G Private Wireless

Stockholm, Sweden – Tele2 AB ("Tele2") (Nasdaq Stockholm: TEL2 A and TEL2 B) together with Nokia delivers a 5G private mobile 5G network to AirForestry to be able to mobile control their six-meter wide electric drones that enable harvesting and thinning of the forest from the air.

AirForestry develops high-capacity drones for forest thinning. With their electric harvester drones it is possible to thin and harvest forests from the air without damaging the ground or surrounding trees. In order for the drones to be able to communicate with the environment in remote forest areas where there is often no traditional coverage, a stable, secure, and robust connection with high capacity is needed to handle, for example, video transmission and low latency with which control the drones.

Together with Nokia, Tele2 will deliver a 5G private wireless network to AirForestry in a pilot project. The pilot will run during 2024 and if it is successful, the ambition is to introduce the solution into commercial forestry operations. Tele2 will deploy the solution, which enables a stable and private connection in remote forest areas and ensures higher speeds and availability.

"Airforestry's technology is undoubtedly revolutionary, and their vision is to make forest harvesting more efficient and sustainable which is groundbreaking. It is extremely gratifying to be part of this journey and contribute to the realization of completely new innovations. 5G and private wireless networks remove previous limitations and create unlimited business opportunities, and we look forward to more applications that can increase companies' innovation and competitiveness," said Stefan Trampus, Executive Vice President B2B at Tele2.

The drones are controlled from a portable shed with 5G antennas that are positioned to cover the area to be thinned. The mobile solution allows it to be easily set up where needed and where there is no public coverage or any other alternative technologies.

"Our drones require efficient and reliable data transmission to be able to handle all the data they send and receive when harvesting and thinning forests. We looked at different options regarding connectivity, but in the end a mobile private 5G network was the one that suited our specific needs best," said Olle Gelin, CEO and co-founder of Airforestry.

Nokia will deliver Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (DAC) that will provide reliable performance, high bandwidth, and low latency enabling digital transformation for the forestry industry.

"Nokia is thrilled to be part of this project partnering with Tele2. Airforestry’s approach to forestry is truly disruptive. It is resource-efficient and reduces damage on the ground level to an absolute minimum. One of the challenges is precise navigation of the drones and a state-of-the-art 5G private wireless network that is the perfect technology to support this application," said Stephane Haulbert, Nokia Enterprise Partners Business Leader in Europe.

Watch the video about the project here.