Brazilian operator Algar Telecom has selected equipment vendor Nokia Networks for the deployment of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network in the 700MHz band, while also entrusting the Finnish company with upgrading its 3G network and implementing its Telco Cloud solution. Under a five-year turnkey contract, Nokia Networks will provide radio and core networks, including its Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station and Flexi Zone small cell solution, and managed services – Network Planning and Optimisation, Systems Integration & Managed Services, Network Implementation, Global Service Delivery and Care Services – to transform the operator’s network infrastructure. The modernisation project will provide subscribers in Minas Gerais, Goias, Mato Grosso do Sul and Sao Paulo with ‘new voice and data services with excellent coverage and capacity’; post implementation, subscribers will have access to ‘significantly better 3G services as Algar Telecom continues to expand its coverage across Brazil’. Additionally, Nokia Networks will upgrade the operator’s network to enable it to offer 4G services in the future, while also paving the way for voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) and voice-over-Wi-Fi (VoWi-Fi) solutions. Further, Nokia Network will implement its Telco Cloud Infrastructure, including IMS and Evolved Packet Core, in order to increase the flexibility and scalability of Algar Telecom’s networks. The cloud solution will allow Algar Telecom’s network to cope with unpredictable data traffic patterns and shorten rollout time for new services while reducing deployment costs.
Divino Sebastiao de Souza, president and CEO of Algar Telecom, said: ‘With Nokia Networks support, we are building a future-ready network that will offer nothing less than the best to our subscribers – be it in terms of customer experience, or the wide array of innovative voice and data services that will soon be available. This network will also reduce our carbon footprint and minimise our environmental impact, as we will be deploying energy-efficient equipment.’