Smaller U.S. operators like Union Wireless are in the process of removing Huawei equipment from their networks
After several years of discussion at the federal level, including the slow machinations of making funding available, rural and regional U.S. operators are starting the process of removing Huawei equipment from their networks creating a multi-billion dollar opportunity for the likes of Ericsson, Nokia, Mavenir and others.
In the latest, Nokia said this week it will provide Union Wireless with new 4G and 5G radio access network equipment. The first thrust will be on 4G with a software-centric path to upgrade to 5G.
Union Wireless provides a range of telecoms services, including inter- and intrastate toll, POTs, mobile service, data transport and applications, and equipment sales and rentals. The company was founded in 1914 and operates in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Idaho.
Union Wireless CTO and Operations Officer Eric Woody said the selection was made because “Nokia was willing to back its statements to protect Union’s interest. Its ability to provide turnkey services and state-of-the-art radio equipment were also contributing factors in our decision to work with Nokia.”
In a statement, Nokia’s SVP of U.S. Major Accounts noted that the equipment being deployed is capable of supporting 5G and Open RAN standards developed by the O-RAN Alliance. “Once the migration is complete, Union Wireless will further enable rural communities it serves to access the world through reliable and secure mobile connectivity.”
The rip-and-replace program, with nearly $2 billion in federal funding in place, is seen as a big opportunity for Open RAN vendors who tout the lower capex and opex associated with disaggregated radio systems.
In another publicly announced rip-and-replace deal, Mavenir is providing Montana’s Triangle Communications with a “turnkey” solution, including Open RAN hardware and software, a container-based virtualized Evolved Packet Core, and the U.S.-based vendor’s webscale platform for cloud-based operations.
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission, in its effort to get Huawei, ZTE and other “untrusted” equipment out of domestic networks, will begin reimbursing rural and regional network operators for rip-and-replace costs in October. Lawmakers and federal agencies have put together a funding pool of $1.895 billion to foot the bill for rebuilding networks.
