Information and communication technology group Nokia and telecommunications giant Vodacom South Africa have teamed up to further deploy ultrafast fifth-generation (5G) services.
Vodacom will leverage Nokia’s 5G radio, core and fixed-wireless access (FWA) solutions across its network.
Vodacom’s 5G mobile broadband and FWA services are already live in Johannesburg, Pretoria, Durban and Cape Town and are currently being deployed to other areas across South Africa.
“5G technology allows us to deliver ultrafast mobile networks and support entirely new use cases as we move into the Fourth Industrial Revolution era. Nokia has been our network partner for more than two decades, and its latest technology solutions are now helping us to deliver superior 5G services,” says Vodacom South Africa technology director Beverly Ngwenya.
Vodacom is already using Nokia’s second-generation, third-generation and fourth-generation and fibre access networks, as well as 5G FWA and mobile broadband services.
Nokia is also supplying its AirScale, FastMile and subscriber data management and home subscriber server products to Vodacom to enhance its service offering and deliver increased operational efficiencies.
Nokia’s AirScale radio network product portfolio will enable Vodacom to deploy 5G services across several spectrum bands, including the new 3 500 MHz, 2 600 MHz and 700/800 MHz bands, which will be auctioned in March.
Vodacom will also use Nokia’s FastMile 5G gateway to offer FWA broadband services in areas not currently served by a fibre network and Nokia’s mesh WiFi solution, which improves user experience by creating a seamless WiFi coverage area, while reducing the time and complexity required to install and manage the WiFi network.