The deal is said to build on a previous 3G and LTE network enhancement agreement between Nokia and TIM Brazil.
Nokia said it extended an infrastructure deal with TIM in Brazil to use 700 MHz spectrum in support of the carrier’s LTE network. The spectrum is set to bolster LTE network coverage, with the current deployment relying on the 2.6 GHz and 1.8 GHz bands.
The enhancement will use Nokia’s AirScale radio access platform, which the vendor said can support multiple radio technologies and boldly claims “allows virtually unlimited scalability that will support massive [internet of things] demand and ‘5G’ speeds.”
“We’re looking at the highest technology quality standard today in the market, with the combination of three spectrum bands to increase our capacity and improve the end-user experience,” said Leonardo Capdeville, head of technology at TIM, in a statement.
Financial terms of the new agreement were not released.
Nokia noted the new deals builds on a previous agreement from late 2015, which called for the vendor to update and expand TIM Brazil’s 3G and LTE networks across 17 states in the country using small cells. That deal also included Nokia providing deployment, optimization and support services.
An executive from Brazilian mobile operator Vivo, which is owned by Telefónica, claimed late last year that the country won’t see true 5G services until at least 2022, and that the technology was not a priority for the carrier. Vivo CEO Amos Genish said the carrier was focused on investments in improving the quality of its broadband, with fiber deployments, 4G deployments and on refarming part of its spectrum band in the 1.8 GHz band in support of LTE.
“Globally, 5G is still under standard definition and it won’t be a reality before 2020,” Genish said during a press conference at the Futurecom 2016 event. “Concerning Brazil, the country will take at least two years after that to begin 5G deployments. We have other issues to address before that.”
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