Under the deal, Nokia will supply equipment from its O-RAN-compliant 5G AirScale portfolio
Nokia announced that it has been awarded more than 3,000 sites by German carrier Deutsche Telekom (DT) to support the operator’s multi-vendor Open RAN (O-RAN) network in Germany.
The deal, which includes Japanese firm Fujitsu, covers a mass rollout of O-RAN-compliant technology with commercial deployment already underway in the Neubrandenburg area of Northern Germany.
Under the deal, Nokia will supply equipment from its O-RAN-compliant 5G AirScale portfolio powered by its energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip technology, including modular, high-capacity baseband solutions and high-performance Habrok Massive MIMO radios for premium coverage and capacity, the vendor said.
Nokia’s solutions integrate with DT’s multi-supplier O-RAN environment where Fujitsu will supply its O-RAN-compliant mid-band remote radio head products. The deal will also see Nokia support DT with network modernization alongside existing suppliers.
Nokia will also deploy its intelligent AI-powered MantaRay NM solution for improved network monitoring and management and will provide AI-based services, including digital deployment, optimization and technical support.
Abdu Mudesir, Group CTO and managing director of technology Germany at Deutsche Telekom, said: “This deal is further evidence of our significant commitment to multi-vendor O-RAN and ensuring we have greater supplier choice for radio access networks. The network performance in the already implemented area is delivering the best customer experience. And now together with Nokia, we look forward to scaling up O-RAN in Germany.”
“This is a significant deal for Nokia as we have been selected by the largest network operator in Europe to extend our partnership,” said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia.
Deutsche Telekom said that a total of 12,800 of its 5G antennas in 950 cities and municipalities were transmitting on the 3.6 GHz spectrum band as of the end of September.
Around 97% of households can already access Deutsche Telekom’s 5G network, while LTE coverage currently reaches 99% of households across Germany.
The telco previously said that its 5G technology will reach 99% of the population by the end of 2025.
Deutsche Telekom expects to launch its 5G Standalone (5G SA) offering in Germany this year. In a previous round-up of its network achievements during 2023, Srini Gopalan, CEO of Telekom Deutschland, which is DT’s domestic operator, said the carrier is aiming at offering 5G SA to private customers.
The telco previously highlighted that 5G antennas on the 3.6 GHz frequency are particularly powerful, because they are almost exclusively connected to the transport network with a 10 Gbps connection via fiber optics. The telco noted that the 3.6 GHz frequency band supplements the 5G frequencies in the 700 MHz and 2.1 GHz range, which are already in use nationwide in the Deutsche Telekom network. Especially in densely populated areas, the 3.6 GHz frequencies ensure particularly high download speeds and smooth mobile phone coverage, the carrier said.
