Teck Resources will be experiencing greater connectivity at its Elkview operations in British Columbia thanks to the deployment of a new industrial-grade private LTE network designed in partnership with  Canadian connectivity company Shaw Business and global telecommunications giant Nokia.

Built on Nokia’s wireless solution, according to Shaw, the network is western Canada’s first 5G-ready private LTE network that “provides the coverage, mobility, security and reliability required to optimize the modern digital mine.”

“The global economy is on the verge of the next industrial revolution – a change that will be driven entirely by 5G and other advanced connected technologies,” Shaw Communications president of business Katherine Emberly said. “Through this project, we were able to combine our spectrum assets with our deep industry knowledge and sector expertise to help Teck boost productivity, efficiency and improve safety while transforming their network infrastructure to deliver significant operational value.”

Specifically, the network was created to support Teck in the deployment of technologies born from its RACE21 program, a company-wide push to adopt new technologies, accelerate automation of operations and embrace the use of analytics and artificial intelligence to improve productivity.

Related: Greg Brouwer talks about Teck’s RACE21, the multi-pronged approach to transform the company through automation and digitalization

Some of the measures taken by the program include developing digital sensors to optimize throughput and yield at Teck’s Fording River Operations and using machine learning to maximize grinding and floatation at Highland Valley Copper. According to Teck, RACE21 already resulted in $150 million in EBITDA improvements by the end of 2019, and the company is targeting total improvements of $500 million by the end of 2020.

With more vehicles operating autonomously, sensors taking measurements and machine learning providing analysis, a robust network is required to support the growing use of these (and other yet-to-be adopted) technologies.

Teck’s RACE21 program aims to generate new value, reduce operating costs and significantly improve safety, sustainability and productivity at our operations, and improving network infrastructure will support achieving those goals,” Teck senior vice-president and chief transformation officer Andrew Milner said.  

According to Shaw, because the network is fully private, there won’t be any conflict with outside IT and operations constraints that might be present in a non-dedicated network. Teck says it is looking into using 5G networks at its other operations as well.