Bell and MacLean, the world's largest Canadian-based manufacturer of underground mining equipment, announced a technology collaboration to better support the evolving needs of mining customers.
The innovations being introduced will improve the way in which machines exchange and make use of information, enhancing safety for workers and driving sustainable practices and reduced vehicle emissions.
Canadian Mining Innovation
The installation of a Bell Private Mobile Network (PMN) at the MacLean Research & Training Facility in Sudbury, Ontario provides a communications infrastructure perfectly suited for mining vehicle innovation. Bell's PMN will transform the test facility into a Centre of Excellence, leveraging Bell's secure 5G/LTE network that delivers persistent, dedicated bandwidth and signal stability from the surface shop to the underground environment.
"Bell's private mobile network will allow MacLean to drive the modernization of mining operations in Canada, support the interoperability of equipment, create safer environments for all workers, and foster a more sustainable future through the enablement of battery electric mining vehicles. Our collaboration will provide innovative Canadian Internet of Things solutions providers the opportunity to test and modify their solutions to perform at the exacting standards required in rugged, real-world mining conditions at MacLean's Centre of Excellence,” said Costa Pantazopoulos, VP Product, Bell.
This Centre of Excellence serves as the foundation for MacLean's mobile equipment research and development. It enables the company's mining vehicles to be more dependably controlled remotely, with real-time monitoring data to support rapid decision-making.
“This new private mobile network technology will help us pursue our core work of driving safety and productivity improvements in mining, here in Canada and around the globe. I'm delighted with the results of this collaboration and know that it will open new possibilities for our Advanced Vehicles and Technology team at our test facility to pursue their important innovation work,” commented David Jacques, VP Engineering, MacLean.
The collaboration between Bell and MacLean exemplifies a commitment to sustainable mining practices as Bell has also installed PMN coverage at MacLean's Electric Vehicle refurbishment plant located in the same facility.
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