Why LTE vendors and telecoms should tap mining cos?

LTE network in North AmericaMining sector will be spending $2.9 billion or 1.5 percent of total mining Capex in 2022 on private network for meeting demand for wireless broadband technology, such as private LTE and Wi-Fi mesh.

ABI Research said mining companies are investing in wireless technologies to support driverless trucks, trains and drills in mines, introduce cost efficiency, operational safety, and making modern mines safer and smarter.

Mining companies will be making substantial telecommunication investment for setting up private LTE and Wi-Fi mesh networks. Between the two technologies, private LTE sets to see greater adoption. “Economy of scales through 3GPP standardizations and advancement in LTE hardware and software technologies continues to make LTE technology more powerful and cost friendly,” said Lian Jye Su, senior analyst at ABI Research.

The report said mining companies such as BHP, Fortescue, and Rio Tinto are running autonomous haulage and drilling in their iron ore mines.

Declining revenue from consumer market will force LTE technology vendors and mobile operators to explore business opportunities in other sectors such as mining.

In addition to connectivity, telecoms can offer value-added services, such as big data analytics, network security and edge computing.

Private LTE and edge computing may enhance several aspects of mining operations that companies may find very valuable. Running on private LTE, mining companies can enjoy wide coverage, carrier-grade resilience, high data throughput and remote control and monitoring.

Mining companies are mainly deploying private LTE and Wi-Fi mesh networks in surface mining. Mining sector will also be investing wireless broadband technologies for underground mining as well.

Mining to see robotics adoption

IDC in July 2017 said purchases of robotics, including drones and robotics-related hardware, software and services, will reach $97.2 billion (+17.9 percent) in 2017.

Robotics spending will accelerate over the five-year forecast period, reaching $230.7 billion in 2021 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 22.8 percent.

“While technology improvements are helping to fuel demand, the increased demand is incentivizing innovators in the field to invest in delivering robots that are capable of performing a wider range of tasks,” John Santagate, research manager, Supply Chain at IDC Manufacturing Insights at IDC.

The Discrete Manufacturing and Process Manufacturing industries will be the largest purchasers of robotics products and services with 2017 spending totals of $30.5 billion and $24.1 billion, respectively.

The Resource industries, which include mining, oil & gas extraction, and agriculture, will be the third largest robotics market in 2017 with global spending of nearly $9 billion. The industries that will see the fastest spending growth over 2016-2021 are Education (71.9 percent CAGR), Retail (51.3 percent CAGR), Construction (38.3 percent CAGR), Wholesale (37.2 percent CAGR), and Insurance (36.3 percent CAGR).