iTnews

Telstra rolls Private LTE to Roy Hill, South32 mines

By Ry Crozier on May 14, 2019 1:00PM
Telstra rolls Private LTE to Roy Hill, South32 mines

Serving open pit and underground operations.

Telstra is deploying in-mine private LTE networks for the likes of Roy Hill and South32 through its mining services business.

The carrier’s mining services head Dr Jeannette McGill told the Telstra Vantage On Tour event in Perth this month that miners were increasingly taking up LTE to power on-site digital operations.

Additionally, McGill said, deploying 4G LTE set those mine sites up to potentially move into more 5G-enabled use cases of the technology in future.

McGill provided a brief glimpse of two mine sites that are deploying private LTE networks with the aid of Telstra.

“From an open pit perspective we’ve been working with Roy Hill,” McGill said.

“Telstra Mining Services has been installing the private LTE network for Roy Hill, such that they are really able to change the way that they’re working because they see the network as a critical mining platform.”

McGill said that the LTE network at Roy Hill would offer connectivity to existing systems and also help the iron ore miner “grow [its] existing appetite for innovation”.

“This is a broad project with a variety of stakeholders, all being able to support Roy Hill as they mechanise and support a variety of solutions,” she said.

Telstra’s private LTE network deployment work is also taking it underground into South32’s Cannington lead and silver mine in north Queensland.

South32 consists of operations spun out of BHP Billiton back in 2015.

McGill said underground environments posed “a range of unique challenges” for network deployments, though there were also “opportunities to provide really robust solutions.”

“South32 has agreed to take the journey with us where they have been looking for a solution that provides real low latencies, high throughputs, as well as being able to provide a range of new technologies that can better support their existing network,” McGill said.

“We’ve started a path with South32 around a multi-sector, pre-production, underground private network.”

McGill noted that in-mine private LTE networks had gained in popularity in recent times.

She further said that miners that had adopted 4G LTE were best placed to take early advantage of the upgrade path to 5G and some of the use cases this next-generation network would facilitate.

“Similar to urban networks, augmented LTE will be able to bring a range of additional capabilities for the mining space,” she said.

“We’ll be able to better support autonomous drilling, much better lower latencies for tele-remote vehicles at [mine] faces, fewer cell sites, a range of lower power sensors can be adopted, precision robotics can be deployed, as well as increased vehicle densities.”

Got a news tip for our journalists? Share it with us anonymously here.
Copyright © iTnews.com.au . All rights reserved.
Tags:
5g miningit private lte telco telco/isp telstra

Partner Content

MSI shows first laptops with Wi-Fi 6E, Nvidia RTX 30 graphics
Partner Content MSI shows first laptops with Wi-Fi 6E, Nvidia RTX 30 graphics
MSI launches innovative new laptops
Partner Content MSI launches innovative new laptops
Improving returns from SD-WAN spending
Sponsored Content Improving returns from SD-WAN spending
NCS expands into Australia in partnership with Optus Enterprise
Sponsored Content NCS expands into Australia in partnership with Optus Enterprise

Sponsored Whitepapers

The risky business of open source
The risky business of open source
Ensure your e-signatures are legally binding
Ensure your e-signatures are legally binding
Mitigating open source risk in your organisation
Mitigating open source risk in your organisation
How to choose a WAF that's right for you
How to choose a WAF that's right for you
The global telco 5G cloud gaming opportunity
The global telco 5G cloud gaming opportunity

Events

  • On-Demand Webinar: How Poly and Microsoft are Embracing Future Work Environments
  • Beat the DDoS blackmailers in 2021
By Ry Crozier
May 14 2019
1:00PM
0 Comments

Related Articles

  • Telstra blasts plan to 'set aside' mobile spectrum for Optus and TPG, but not it
  • Optus, Telstra, TPG press for 'partnership' in $22m 5G test case race
  • Telstra packs Gold Coast apartment with devices in 5G EME test
  • Telstra sets conservative speed expectations for 'up to gigabit' NBN add-on
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook Share on LinkedIn Share on Whatsapp Email A Friend

Most Read Articles

Telstra blasts plan to 'set aside' mobile spectrum for Optus and TPG, but not it

Telstra blasts plan to 'set aside' mobile spectrum for Optus and TPG, but not it

Accellion hack behind Reserve Bank of NZ data breach

Accellion hack behind Reserve Bank of NZ data breach

Google unravels state-of-art Android and Windows exploit chains

Google unravels state-of-art Android and Windows exploit chains

Tyro halts trading following week-long outage

Tyro halts trading following week-long outage

You must be a registered member of iTnews to post a comment.
Log In | Register
All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in any form without prior authorisation.
Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of nextmedia's Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.