Japanese telecoms company, KDDI announced on Monday, 30 September 2019, that it has selected Nokia as a primary partner to upgrade its 4G network to 5G. The partnership aims to modernise the KDDI network with Nokia’s AirScale solution – which supports both 4G and 5G operations – to and meet the growing consumer and industrial demands for 5G.
According to KDDI, the 5G radio contract simply re-enforces the strong relationship between the two companies. Nokia has supplied KDDI technologies including radio, fixed networks, mobile core network and multiple software solutions for over two decades. And with the implementation of the AirScale solution, KDDI’s 5G network should support users across both cmWave and mmWave 5G frequency bands and can even be deployed in both distributed and centralised architectures.
The network is said to be deployed across Japan and aims to deliver enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) to consumers and enhanced Machine-Type Communication (eMTC) enabling multiple new applications and services for industries in the 5G era. The network architecture will also be transformed to enable 5G Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Connectivity (URLLC).
John Harrington, Head of Nokia Japan, says, “This deal will allow KDDI to get ready for the 5G era and we are honoured and excited to continue our long-term relationship. As an end-to-end supplier of multiple technologies to KDDI, we look forward to transforming the network and launching 5G for consumers and industries”.
“Nokia currently has 48 global 5G commercial contracts, including live networks in the US, Latin America, Europe, Korea and Australia. Our track record of providing the world’s best performing 4G networks reflects well in our 5G commercial success. In fact, all our LTE customers that announced 5G plans have continued with us, showing their faith in the power of Nokia’s end-to-end portfolio.”
Edited by Jenna Cook
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