Nokia has reeled in a massive catch.
The Finnish company on Thursday announced it has secured a deal with Altán, a new carrier in Mexico, to design, build, and operate a nationwide LTE network in the country. The agreement represents Nokia’s largest-ever contract win by scale in Latin America, the company said.
The contract is part of Mexico’s Red Compartida public-private project, which is expected to bring in more than $7 billion in investment over the next nine years. The project aims to provide wireless broadband to 92 percent of Mexico’s population to slash the digital divide and boost the country’s productivity and competitiveness.
Nokia’s role will be to supply the heart of the network, including 100 percent of a fully virtualized core network, and around 40 percent of RAN, IP backhaul, OSS, and NOC. More specifically, Nokia said it plans to deliver a virtualized core network; master system integration of the core and lab management solutions; VoLTE and EPC via Air Frame; 4.5G Pro radio access based on AirScale for the RAN; IP and optical backhaul; DWDM 100G and IP routing for aggregation; and microwave transmission. The company said it will also offer turnkey services across the board including site acquisition, construction, and deployment, network integration, public safety broadband features, network planning and optimization, and operation, maintenance, and managed services.
Nokia’s elements will be deployed in five of Mexico’s nine regions, including Guadalajara and Monterrey, the country’s second and third largest cities. The project will utilize 700 MHz spectrum, Nokia said, and it will be the company’s first deployment of a fully virtualized core in Latin America.
“Building a brand new, end-to-end LTE network is a dream for a company like Nokia, and shows the strength of our innovation and our product portfolio,” Head of Nokia Latin America Dimitri Diliani commented. “This project will allow Altán and the Mexican government to exceed consumer expectations, providing more wireless broadband services, speed, coverage and quality at a lower cost per bit. Such a state-of-the art network will benefit all mobile operators in Mexico – the existing and the new ones – and also their customers.”
The build will be for Altán Redes, a new wholesale carrier supported by international investors and several Mexican shareholders. The carrier won the tender process to build and operate the Red Compartida network, which will serve as a new platform for the deployment of mobile and internet services for existing mobile network operators, as well as existing and new mobile virtual network operators in the country.
The deal is undoubtedly a big win for Nokia, which has been trying to regain its footing as the telco sands shift away from legacy technologies and toward next generation services. The company earlier this month decided to split its Mobile Networks business group into two distinct organization to better meet market demands, and also shuffled its leadership as part of that move. More on that here.
Filed Under: Infrastructure