Nokia announced that it has been selected by Thai mobile operator, Dtac, part of Telenor Group, as its first 5G RAN partner in a three-year deal covering the North and North Eastern regions of Thailand. With this deal, Nokia plays a key role in ensuring that Dtac’s network performance is fully 5G-ready, and enabling a faster rollout of new 5G services as demand grows.

Nokia has been in Thailand for over 30 years with the deployment of 2G, 3G and 4G networks and will now provide 5G connectivity that will support the country’s efforts to digitise as part of its ‘Thailand 4.0’ economic strategy. The deployment is expected to begin later this year with completion expected in 2022.

The deal, which is an extension of Nokia’s existing partnership with Dtac, will see an accelerated large-scale deployment of 5G on low-band spectrum (700-900Mhz) and high-capacity mmWave technology (26GHz), as well as enhancements of the existing networks utilising 2300MHz, 2100MHz and 1800MHz spectrum. This combination will provide superior coverage and faster data speeds to subscribers.

Nokia will provide its AirScale Radio Access solutions for 4G and 5G networks that will improve overall network performance while enabling Dtac to deliver 5G experience with ultra-low latency and extreme capacity. AirScale Radio Access is an industry-first commercial 5G solution enabling operators to capitalise early on 5G. The deal includes digital deployment for faster time to market, as well as optimisation services.

Dtac will also deploy Nokia Software’s NetAct Cloud network management system, which delivers cloud-agnostic, best-in-class tools for troubleshooting, administration, software management and configuration management.

Nokia is a long-standing partner of Dtac and has previously provided its first commercial 4G TDD network in Thailand. Nokia has also provided solutions from its IP/Optical portfolio to bolster its network including a software-defined network (SDN)-ready IP/Optical network.

Prathet Tankuranun, chief technology officer at Dtac, says, “We never stop improving our network and delivering better data experiences across a broad range of devices. Our current deployment leverages 5G-enhanced mobile broadband and 5G-ready Massive MIMO technology to bring improved coverage and higher data capacity to our customers nationwide.”

Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia, says, “We are delighted to extend our long-standing partnership with Dtac in Thailand and be the first vendor to partner with the operator in the 5G era. Our AirScale portfolio offers a clear migration path to 5G and we look forward to supporting Dtac with its efforts to deliver compelling 5G experiences to subscribers.”

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