Nokia Signs 5G Deal with Orange France

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Nokia has been selected by Orange France, one of the largest mobile operators in Europe, to evolve its mobile access network towards 5G.

Building on its existing market share and long history with Orange, Nokia will provide Orange, for a broad part of France, with a range of products and services from its end-to-end 5G portfolio, including Single Radio Access Network (RAN) technology, advanced automation tools, a state-of-the-art network management solution and associated professional services.

The infrastructure investment will allow Orange France to significantly improve customer experience, boost network capacity, enable further automation and create new innovative services that require ultra-high bandwidth and low latency. The new network will provide improved mobile broadband services as well as allow Orange to provide ultra-low latency applications in areas such as industrial IoT, health, public safety among others.

Nokia will initially support Orange’s 5G commercial launch by enabling the rollout of its state-of-the-art SRAN network to 5G through software upgrades, streamlining the initial steps to build 5G. It will also introduce 5G New Radio (5G NR)-based AirScale hardware, and software for the new 5G frequency bands.

Fabienne Dulac, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and CEO of Orange France, stated: “For Orange, the deployment of 5G represents a huge challenge and is one of the main priorities of our Engage 2025 strategic plan. We are delighted to be pursuing our partnership with Nokia, a key long-term partner, in order to develop a powerful and innovative 5G network. 5G will enable the development of new use-cases and new services, and will provide an enriched experience for our customers—both in the consumer and business segments. Through this agreement, Orange reaffirms its ambition to being network leader.”

“Nokia is thrilled to bring 5G to France with Orange, a key European operator,” said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia. “Nokia has exactly the right technology for this project, given our excellence in SRAN, 5G and end-to-end network infrastructure leadership. This deal builds on our long-standing trusted relationship with Orange and will deliver a superior experience for businesses and consumers alike."