The contract has been awarded for Germany and “marks Nokia’s return as a supplier to Europe’s largest network”
Nokia announced it has been awarded more than 3,000 sites by Deutsche Telekom (DT) as part the operator’s multi-vendor Open RAN commercial network deployment Germany. The deal includes Fujitsu. The two vendors ran a successful trial in Germany last year after an MoU was announced at MWC.
They began commercial roll-out in the ‘O-RAN zone’ – the Neubrandenburg area of Northern Germany (pictured) – late last year after what seemed like considerable uncertainty by DT about its Open RAN strategy. Somewhat surprisingly, it did not opt for Mavenir which had been the most visible in its Open RAN plan.
Nokis is keen to stress that “the new deal formally marks Nokia’s return as a supplier to Europe’s largest network and will see Nokia replace the incumbent vendor in the area covered in the agreement”.
That incumbent is China’s Huawei, although unlike operators in many other countries, DT has not outright renounced the use of the Chinese vendor’s equipment in 5G networks due to national security concerns.
Technology matters
Under the deal, Nokia will supply equipment from its O-RAN-compliant 5G AirScale portfolio based on its ReefShark System-on-Chip technology. This includes modular, high-capacity baseband solutions and high-performance Habrok Massive MIMO radios.
Nokia says its solutions integrate with DT’s multi-supplier Open 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 modernisation alongside existing suppliers.
The Finnish vendor will also deploy its intelligent AI-powered MantaRay NM solution to improve network monitoring and management. It will provide AI-based services, including digital deployment, optimisation, and technical support.
Multi-vendor Open RAN
Abdu Mudesir, Group CTO and Managing Director of Technology Germany at Deutsche Telekom commented, “This deal is further evidence of our significant commitment to multi-vendor Open 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 Open RAN in Germany.”
Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, added, “While others talk about doing Open RAN, Nokia is actually doing it and doing it on a grand scale. This is a significant deal for Nokia as we have been selected by the largest network operator in Europe to extend our partnership.
“We are proud to have been chosen because of our technology leadership, innovative product portfolio, and open approach. We look forward to expanding our partnership further in the future.”