Nokia, Tele2 extend partnership to deliver 5G in the Baltics

Finnish telecom equipment maker Nokia Tuesday said it is extending its partnership with Tele2 to deploy 5G RAN in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania in a long-term deal.

The deal will be based on the 25 years of cooperation between Nokia and Tele2 in the Baltic region, while Nokia’s 5G solutions will enable Tele2 to deliver connectivity and capacity benefits at ultra-low latencies to their customers, and reduce complexity. Also, Nokia is the incumbent and sole supplier in the deal.

As such, the deal comprised of Nokia providing equipment from its latest ReefShark System on Chip-powered AirScale equipment portfolio to modernise Tele2’s nationwide radio network. Once Tele2 acquires sufficient spectrum with auctions for both low and high band frequencies happening next year, the rollout will begin.        

Previously, Tele2 acquired 5G spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band and the 700 MHz spectrum in Latvia, while Nokia’s AirScale RAN portfolio is designed for simple and efficient ‘plug-in’ deployment and reduced power consumption.

The areas that the network covers after the deployment are dense-urban environments and wide-areas. Nokia has partnered with Tele2 on 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G network deployments in the Baltics since 1996.

Petras Masiulis, CEO Baltics at Tele2, said: “We now have a strong and reliable partner for our complete 5G rollout in the Baltics and together we will provide a major upgrade to the connectivity in each country, providing our customers with better speeds, reliability, and coverage.”

He added: “We now have a strong and reliable partner for our complete 5G rollout in the Baltics and together we will bring a major upgrade to the connectivity in each country, providing our customers with better speeds, reliability and coverage. Nokia provides seamless solutions and state-of-the-art equipment combined with great service. They have been a strong partner to us throughout previous generations of mobile technology and we look forward to continuing this partnership going forward.”

On his part, Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, stated: “Our best-in-class AirScale portfolio will deliver cutting-edge connectivity to their customers across multiple markets and I look forward to working closely with them on this project and beyond.”