Chevron Phillips Contracts Kyndryl and Nokia for Private LTE

Kyndryl and Nokia built Chevron Phillips' private LTE network, connecting eight sites.

Earlier this year, Kyndryl announced an expanded network and edge partnership with Nokia to support private wireless networks using LTE, 5G and the Citizen's Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) spectrum. So far, Kendryl and Nokia have jointly deployed 18 large installations across three continents, with some of them covering up to 20 square miles (that’s equivalent to 9,680 football fields).

Now, together with CPChem, Kyndryl and Nokia designed and implemented private wireless networks using the CBRS spectrum, with the networks running 4G LTE today and able to support 5G in the future.

To be clear, the size and complexity of the deployments, the safety requirements of the facility plants and some adversity to technological changes were considerable challenges. However, Kyndryl successfully deployed the Nokia Digital Automation Cloud (Nokia DAC) private wireless solution, and Kendryl now regularly monitors and manages services to automate the identification and resolution of issues that could disrupt the network.

The benefits and capabilities enabled by the private wireless network deployments have quickly been realized. Employees now have quick access to mission-critical business applications across 3,000 mobile devices, and real-time collaboration between teams anywhere in the plant via Microsoft Teams. Workers can pull up online manuals in the field to resolve repairs or fill out work orders online in SAP and receive quick assessments. On the plant floor, there has been operational technology integration with manufacturing assets, enabling connection, monitoring and management of machines.

Down the road, Kyndryl will work with CPChem to expand the private wireless deployments globally, and enable further use cases and applications like 24/7 monitoring. By layering on other technologies like edge computing, IoT and augmented applications, the private LTE/5G networks will add next-level automation, enhanced worker safety and efficiencies into business-critical operations.