Contract stipulates deployment of small cells for 3G, 4G services
Nokia Networks won a contract from mobile operator Ooredoo Qatar to deploy small cells in hot spots across the Arab country. The agreement follows a trial using Nokia Networks’ LTE and 3G small cell solution in high-traffic indoor and outdoor locations in the capital Doha.
Nokia Networks’ services experts first identified the key hot spots using advanced planning and analysis tools. Nokia Flexi Zone small cells were installed in strategic locations such as cafe and restaurant rooftops to ensure additional capacity, coverage and better network availability, as well as to reduce latency.
Through the deployment of the small cells, the mobile operator will be able to provide voice and data services to its customers even in the most crowded indoor and outdoor areas. The small cells deployed by Nokia Network include the Nokia Flexi Lite 3G and Nokia Flexi Zone 4G, Nokia Flexi Zone 4G pico base stations for high-quality indoor coverage. The contract also includes the deployment of Nokia NetAct for consolidated network management across small cells and the macro layer.
“Our customers demand high-quality services, even in complex hot spots and crowded urban zones. Nokia Networks small cells will enable us to provide more capacity, higher availability and reduced latency,” Ooredoo Qatar COO Waleed Al Sayed said.
Ooredoo Qatar ended the second quarter with almost 3 million mobile telephony subscribers in the country. The telco generated revenue of 2 billion rials ($549.3 million) in the second quarter, up from 1.79 billion rials in the year-ago period. Ooredoo Qatar’s overall capital expenditures in Qatar reached 237.5 million rials in Q2, up compared to 193.5 million rials in the same period the previous year.
Ooredoo launched 4G LTE in Qatar in 2013. The telco offers LTE through spectrum in the 800 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2600 MHz bands.
Huawei, BT launch G.fast trial in the UK
In related EMEA news, Chinese telecom infrastructure provider Huawei has launched the United Kingdom’s first large-scale customer trial of G.fast in association with local telecom operator BT.
The G.fast trial located in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, has been deployed using Huawei’s latest multiport G.fast waterproof equipment installed in a manhole. Huawei also provided a full end-to-end solution, including a headend optical line terminal, G.fast terminal and a network management system.
