Finnish vendor Nokia today announced that it has been selected by Qatar-based Ooredoo Group to bring multiple technologies and services, including 5G, to customers in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia as part of a five-year multi-country deal. The agreement, which builds on Nokia’s global partnership with Ooredoo, will see Nokia expand Ooredoo’s existing network, as well as introduce new 5G services. The deployment is already underway and is expected to be completed by 2026.
Under the deal, Nokia will deploy equipment from its AirScale RAN portfolio on sites across North Africa and Southeast Asia. The deal also includes Core, Optics, IP and microwave technologies, plus digital deployment services supporting a faster time to market as well as technical support services. Nokia will provide its cloud-native Core software ‘to give Ooredoo zero-touch automation capabilities that will drive greater scale and reliability’. Supported by Nokia Cloud Packet Core, Voice Core, Registers, Policy Controller, Signalling and Cloud Platform, Ooredoo will be able to introduce network slicing to launch and grow new services spanning health, smart cities, banking, transportation, and public safety more rapidly, a press release added.
Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Managing Director, Ooredoo Group, said: ‘This renewed contract is testimony to our growing partnership with Nokia to modernise and expand our network by rolling out world-class 4G and 5G services across North Africa and Southeast Asia. Thanks to Nokia’s advanced technology, our customers will be able to experience faster speeds and enhanced response times as well as more bandwidth.’