NETWORKS & COMMS
Forsk’ s Atoll multi-technology radio planning and optimisation software can be used to plan private 5G / LTE networks for mining environments, covering openpit terrain, microwave links, underground tunnels, OEM equipment, and coverage analysis in a single planning workflow.
The company states:“ Mines are not static sites. Unlike campuses, stadiums, or buildings, mining environments change over time. The open pit may deepen, terrain profiles may shift, and new underground areas may be added. These changes directly affect radio propagation, line-ofsight conditions, and coverage availability. This creates several planning challenges- coverage needs to follow the operational area as it evolves; and terrain data must be updated to reflect current and future mine geometry. Backhaul links must account for line-of-sight obstructions, while underground tunnels and chambers require dedicated modelling. Finally, safety-critical services need reliable coverage in both surface and underground zones.”
Forsk says that for executives, the key point is simple: a mine network that is not planned accurately can create operational risk. Coverage gaps can affect worker communications, connected equipment, automation systems, and remote operations. Forsk’ s Atoll provides a carrier-grade radio planning environment. First, Atoll can use terrain data and contour information to represent open-pit environments. This helps planners account for changing elevation and mine geometry when evaluating coverage and line-of-sight conditions. Second, Atoll supports microwave link planning, including analysis of potential obstructions. This is particularly important for remote mine sites where backhaul connectivity may depend on carefully selected radio paths.
Third, Atoll can model underground environments, including tunnels and chambers. This allows planners to evaluate both surface and underground coverage within the same broader planning context. Finally, Atoll supports equipment-based design workflows, helping network teams work with antennas, radiating cables, amplifiers, splitters, and other components as part of the planning process.
Managing the bandwidth bottleneck
Dassault Systèmes’ GEOVIA provides end-to-end software solutions for mining, including digital twins. To get some insight into what greater digitalisation and use of real time sensor-based data means in terms of connectivity requirements, IM recently had the chance to catch up with Ralph Smith – GEOVIA Management Director
Q The latest mine planning and visualisation technology, including those using virtual twins and AI, require a lot of computing power. Does this also come with a certain bandwidth requirement when it comes to networks and comms?
Yes, and it’ s one of the more underappreciated challenges in mining technology right now. When you’ re running a virtual twin of an entire mining operation, streaming real-time sensor data, or processing AI-driven optimisation scenarios through software, you’ re generating and moving substantial volumes of data. The compute side of that equation has improved dramatically; cloud infrastructure has largely solved the processing power problem. But connectivity is often the bottleneck that nobody talks about until it becomes a problem. A mine in the Atacama, or in outback Western Australia, or in central Africa, doesn’ t have the luxury of a fibre connection to a data centre. The bandwidth requirement is real, and it grows every time we add a new capability to the stack.
Q How does Dassault Systèmes therefore ensure its increasingly advanced offering is supported by the right comms backbone and how do you work with customers to ensure this is in place including any redundancy when it comes to connectivity?
When we work with customers on deployment, connectivity is part of the conversation from the start, not an afterthought. That means understanding their current infrastructure, where their operational teams are located, how data flows between the pit, the processing plant, and the planning office, which might be in a completely
GEOVIA says when it works with mining customers on deployment, connectivity is part of the conversation from the start, not an afterthought different country. We design for resilience. That means thinking about local caching, edge processing, and ensuring that critical planning functions in tools like Surpac can continue operating even in degraded connectivity scenarios. We also work closely with customers to stress-test their architecture before it matters; not after something breaks.
Q Do you see available network power as a limitation today in mining in terms of what is possible with cloud and edge computing and in the future with AI?
There are mines where the connectivity situation is genuinely constraining what’ s deployable today. Cloud-native workflows, real-time AI inference, live virtual twin updates- all of these assume a level of reliable, high throughput connectivity that not every site can guarantee. Edge computing has helped close some of that gap, pushing more processing closer to the source of the data means you’ re not always dependent on a round-trip to the cloud. But edge has its own limitations in terms of processing capacity and maintenance overhead. The honest answer is that network infrastructure in mining hasn’ t kept pace with the ambition of the technology, and that gap is something the whole ecosystem- vendors, operators, connectivity providers need to close together.
Q Ultimately do you see both satcomms solutions like Starlink and private 5G networks playing the most important role in supplying the connectivity that your solutions depend on?
Both, and probably in combination, that’ s the realistic picture. Starlink and low-earth orbit satellite connectivity have genuinely changed the calculus for remote sites. The latency and throughput numbers we’ re seeing now from LEO( low earth orbit) constellations are in a completely different league from what legacy satellite comms could offer. For a remote open-pit operation that previously had no viable path to real-time cloud connectivity, that’ s transformative. Private 5G is the other piece, particularly for within-site connectivity, where you need reliable, low-latency communication between autonomous equipment, control systems, and planning platforms. The two technologies are largely complementary rather than competing. LEO gets you connected to the outside world; private 5G gives you the highperformance local network fabric that modern mine automation and data-intensive applications actually need. As both mature and costs continue to fall, the connectivity barrier in mining will look very different in five years than it does today, and that’ s when the full potential of the 3DEXPERIENCE platform will truly be realised at scale across the industry.
14 International Mining | SEPTEMBER 2026