Nokia has detailed a host of product upgrades and operator partnerships as it makes its own bid for 5G supremacy at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona.
Other vendors, including Ericsson and Huawei, have also made claims for 5G leadership at the event, but the Finnish mobile giant is pitching itself as the only choice for mobile operators wanting a ‘one-stop shop’ for 5G kit.
"Nokia arrives at Mobile World Congress as a world leader in 5G, with the industry's only end-to-end portfolio that is available in all markets around the world,” declared Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri.
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Nokia 5G
“We are remarkably well-positioned with more than 20 5G contracts, and almost 100 5G engagements with customers in every region of the world. We also believe that there will be a virtuous circle of investment as networks are upgraded to meet the demands of 5G and Nokia has the right portfolio at the right time to meet that need.
"2019 will be a big year for 5G and Nokia stands ready and able to deliver for customers everywhere. 5G is a truly transformational technology that will improve people's lives, increase productivity and efficiency and enhance the sustainability of our planet."
The company is releasing a new all-in-cloud base station that virtualises 4G and 5G network functions in the cloud, enabling edge computing and low latency applications, while it has also upgraded the Nokia Cloud Packet Core.
It has also detailed a new 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) gateway and is using the product with Australian telco Optus. 5G FWA is expected to be one of the early use cases for 5G, with Nokia believing the market will increase by 50 percent to 27.5 million households by 2022. Optus is set to launch FWA at 50 sites by March.
Nokia is also holding joint trials with Korea Telecom to see how Network Function Virtualisation and network slicing can power new applications and 5G business models, while it is also working with Vodafone on massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (mMIMO). It is thought the use of mMIMO could improve capacity using smaller infrastructure and consuming less power.
Finally, Nokia has published the ‘5G Maturity Index’ – a report which details the best practices for 5G deployment and the most popular use cases.
- MWC (Mobile World Congress) is the world's largest showcase for the mobile industry, stuffed full of the newest phones, tablets, wearables and more. TechRadar is reporting live from Barcelona all week to bring you the very latest from the show floor. Head to our dedicated MWC 2019 hub to see all the new releases, along with TechRadar's world-class analysis and buying advice about your next phone.
