Nokia and Telef ó nica renew five-year contract to upgrade network

Nokia announced the renewal of a five-year contract with its strategic partner Telefónica Germany to modernize and upgrade its nationwide wireless access network until 2030. The agreement includes Nokia’s advanced Cloud RAN solution, which supports Telefónica’s ambition to rapidly expand 5G and achieve sustainable digitization across Germany, while providing a high-quality customer experience. Nokia’s AI empowerment solution will also support Telefónica in transforming its operations and network performance using AI.

According to the agreement, Nokia will provide its energy-efficient and AI enabled AirScale Radio Access Network (RAN) product portfolio, including Habrok Massive MIMO radio for the n78 frequency band, Pandion multi band remote radio head end, and AirScale Radio small base station solution. These technologies will ensure comprehensive coverage and seamless indoor connectivity, while improving efficiency and scalability. In addition, Nokia will provide its latest baseband solution to enhance the performance and reliability of the Telef ó nica 5G network.

The deployment will also adopt Nokia’s interleaved passive active antenna (IPAA+) solution to simplify site design and accelerate 5G deployment. The contract includes maintenance and network optimization services.

Telefónica will continue to use Nokia’s AI powered network management solution MantaRay NM, which supports dedicated RAN and Cloud RAN, including data center hardware and cloud infrastructure. It provides comprehensive operation and maintenance capabilities for network elements in core networks, wireless networks, and transmission networks, which can manage both physical network elements and virtualized network functions. This is the first step taken by both companies towards the goal of evolving the Telefónica network to level four automation through AI driven orchestration solutions.

Matthias Sauder, Network Director at O2 Telef ó nica, said: “Nokia has always been a trusted partner in our journey to provide customers with the best network experience. This contract renewal reflects our shared commitment to advancing 5G technology and building a connected, sustainable Germany.”

Justin Hotard, President and CEO of Nokia, said, “We are glad to expand our partnership with Telefónica to help them improve performance, efficiency, and customer experience across the entire 5G network. With the help of Nokia’s anyRAN software, AirScale baseband, and autonomous network platform, Telefónica is also ready to maintain long-term competitiveness when the AI super cycle arrives.”