Nokia recently introduced its worldwide IoT network grid (WING) as a service to help businesses better track and manage their large-scale IoT deployments.

Image: iStockphoto/chombosan

Nokia's new worldwide IoT network grid (WING), announced Friday, aims to help large enterprises more effectively manage their connected assets as they move from country to country. In a press release announcing the grid, Nokia billed it as a "one-stop-shop" service for IoT and connectivity efforts.

As with many management service, WING's goal is to simplify the way an enterprise deals with its connected devices, especially dealing with the complexity of assets that may traverse the globe, the release said. Whereas businesses would typically need to rely on multiple vendors to manage such a deployment, WING gives them a central location to handle it all.

"IoT connectivity as a managed service is an answer for enterprises to the current IoT deployments that are hampered by the patchwork of business agreements to connect devices around the world. Nokia WING will provide one global IoT grid," Igor Leprince, head of Global Services at Nokia, said in the release.

SEE: Harnessing IoT in the Enterprise (ZDNet)

Leprince also noted that Nokia will be working with communication service providers to help grow the service and extend it out to include more industries. According to the release, Nokia is currently targeting transportation, healthcare, utilities, and safety.

Nokia WING will be able to manage a broad range of IoT applications and devices, including connected cars and connected cargo, such as freight containers, the release said. This could make is especially useful for shipping and logistics companies.

In terms of what the service actually offers, it starts with connectivity, which is accomplished by "intelligent switching between cellular and non cellular networks," according to the release. One example given by Nokia would be a shipping container connected via satellite when the ship was at sea, and switching to a cellular network connection as the ship came into port.

The new grid is powered by Nokia's IMPACT IoT platform, and its IMPACT subscription management for eSIM will provide connectivity configurations for the connected assets as they cross borders and different territories. According to the release, Nokia will also offer "provisioning, operations, security, billing and dedicated enterprise customer services from key operations command centers."

Each customer will also have access to their own network segment, as WING will be utilizing Nokia's M2M Core offering and the Nokia Cloud Packet Core. Nokia is also calling on communication service providers to leverage "excess network capacity" to serve their IoT customers, the release noted.

Alexandra Rehak, head of Ovum's IoT Practice, said in the release that Nokia WING "offers a new approach to helping service providers extend their existing network and partnership agreements and quickly address new markets while focusing on their core competencies."

The 3 big takeaways for TechRepublic readers

Nokia WING is a new worldwide IoT network grid that will help manage massive enterprise IoT deployments. The service will manage devices including connected cars, and can shift its connectivity between cellular and noncellular options as needed. The service also provides provisioning, operations, security, billing, and more.

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