Orange Belgium is deploying its 5G SA network in partnership with Ericsson, Nokia and Oracle
Orange Belgium said it is deploying a 5G Standalone core network on a cloud-native architecture together with partners Ericsson, Nokia and Oracle.
Orange Belgium said that it is working with Ericsson for the packet core of the network, with Oracle Communications for the signaling and routing network functions, while Nokia is in charge of the subscriber data management and 5G new radio.
The deployment of 5G SA solutions will enable Orange Belgium to provide customized services for consumer markets and industry 4.0 services such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC) and massive Machine-Type Communications (mMTC) services.
The carrier also said its 5G SA core network on a cloud-native architecture will also enable network slicing.
Orange Belgium CTO Stefan Slavnicu said: “We are moving towards a more customer-focused approach on the network side. We want to pave the way for next-generation services that will be deployed for all our customers, whether on owned or on third-party infrastructures.”
The telco also highlighted that the firm had opened a 5G lab in Antwerp and announced plans to open a new 5G lab in Liège.
In June, the Belgian Institute for Postal Services and Telecommunications (BIPT), said that the country’s 5G spectrum auction had raised a total of 1.2 billion euros (currently $1.15 billion) from five bidders.
BIPT stated that local operators Citymesh Mobile, Network Research Belgium, Orange Belgium, Proximus and Telenet Group secured frequencies for a period of 20 years.
The regulator auctioned frequencies for 5G services in the 700 MHz and 3.6 GHz bands, and 2G and 3G spectrum in 900 MHz, 1.8 GHz and 2.1 GHz.
Proximus committed to pay a total of 491 million euros for the new spectrum. In a separate statement, the telco said it had obtained 20% more spectrum than all participating companies.
Orange committed to pay 322 million euros for the frequencies and claimed it had secured the maximum amount of the available 5G spectrum frequencies, while Telenet committed to pay a total of 264.3 million euros.
New entrants Citymesh Mobile and Network Research Belgium also secured 5G frequencies in the process.
Proximus was the first telco to launch 5G services in Belgium. The carrier currently uses existing radio frequencies in the 2.1 GHz band and has a temporary permit to use radio frequencies in the 3.6-3.8 GHz band.
Meanwhile, Telenet started the gradual deployment of its 5G network in the country in December 2021.
Telenet, which is controlled by U.S. company Liberty Global, said that its 5G network is expected to reach nationwide coverage by 2025.
