Taiwan Mobile currently has nearly 1 million subscribers in the 5G segment
Nokia announced that it has been selected by Taiwan Mobile in an expansion deal to enhance the latter’s 5G coverage across the country.
Under the terms of the deal, Nokia will provide its energy-efficient AirScale portfolio supporting the telco’s commitments to RE100 and reaching 100% renewable energy by 2040. This deployment will also provide a network evolution path following the completion of the proposed merger with Taiwan Star, Nokia said.
Nokia will also provide radio kit, including base stations and massive MIMO antennas to boost network performance and capacity. The deal also covers the introduction of 4G/5G dynamic spectrum sharing to maximize the advantages of TWM’s spectrum assets, which include 700 MHz and 2100 MHz bands.
Nokia has previously provided 2G, 3G, and 4G mobile networks to Taiwan Mobile covering RAN, packet core, and voice core. The Finnish vendor also noted it has made several key contributions to Taiwan Mobile’s 5G development including projects on smart stadiums, smart transportation, and smart logistics.
Nokia will also expand its existing 5G Standalone Core at Taiwan Mobile to enable the operator to provide advanced 5G applications, such as network slicing for enterprises and businesses and Edge Cloud deployments for low-latency services. The deployment will include Nokia AirFrame server hardware with Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) capabilities, IMS Voice Core capacity expansion, and Voice over New Radio (VoNR).
Jamie Lin, President at Taiwan Mobile, said: “Nokia has been our go-to partner for more than two decades and their performance during the 5G era so far has been nothing but brilliant. By doubling down on their cutting-edge technologies with this newly awarded order, we aim to upgrade and expand our 5G network to deliver resilient connectivity and expanded coverage to our subscribers and enterprises alike while at the same time accelerate our sustainability agenda and contribute to a greener earth.”
“This new extended coverage deal is a testament to the great progress we’ve made in the deployment of 5G services in Taiwan with our long-term partner, Taiwan Mobile as its sole supplier,” said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia.
Taiwan Mobile currently has nearly 1 million subscribers in the 5G segment.
In January, Taiwan Mobile announced that it had officially completed the signing of a merger agreement with rival operator Taiwan Star Telecom.
Taiwan Mobile, which ended 2021 with 7.3 million subscribers, noted it plans to issue 282 million new shares for the stock-for-stock merger. The operators’ boards approved the deal on December 30, 2021.
Following the merger process, Taiwan Mobile will emerge with a 100MHz block of spectrum in the 3.5GHz band. It will also have 11,000 3.5GHz 5G base stations that will provide 5G service to 90% of the population and cover 95% of Taiwan’s communication traffic.
Taiwan Star has spectrum in the 900MHz, 2.6GHz and 3.5GHz bands, while Taiwan Mobile’s holdings include frequencies in the 700MHz, 1.8GHz, 2.1GHz, 3.5GHz and 28GHz bands.
