Nokia highlighted that its 5G SA core will also enable VoNR technology for Ooredoo Qatar
Finnish vendor Nokia announced it has successfully demonstrated what it claims to be the first data call in 5G Standalone mode in Qatar, with local carrier Ooredoo Qatar.
The Nordic vendor said that the 5G SA trial took place in the city of Doha.
Nokia also said that the 5G SA architecture will enable Ooredoo Qatar to create new revenue streams by allowing the operator to partner with enterprises and developers in delivering innovative use cases in domains like Industry 4.0 that demands faster throughput and low latency. The 5G SA technology will also allow Ooredoo Qatar to reduce the time-to-market to launch new services, Nokia added.
Nokia’s AirFrame servers, Cloud Mobility Manager, Cloud Mobile Gateway and CloudBand Application Manager were used to conduct the 5G SA data call.
The vendor also highlighted that its 5G SA core will also enable VoNR technology for the Middle East carrier.
Thani Al Malki, chief business officer at Ooredoo Qatar, said: “We are delighted with both the successful completion of the first data call in 5G SA mode in Qatar – a trial crucial to progress towards full launch of 5G SA services – and with the enabling of VoNR devices.”
“5G SA is essential to deliver several 5G use cases like augmented reality, virtual reality, and Industry 4.0, among others. The successful data call in 5G SA reiterates the strength of our 5G solutions that enable service providers to ensure the best-in-class experience for its subscribers. Also, our 5G Standalone Core solution provides Ooredoo with a robust and reliable platform to deliver high-quality voice and video calling services over its 5G network,” said Samar Mittal, head of cloud and network services for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) market at Nokia.
Last month, Ooredoo Qatar announced the extension of an ongoing partnership with Swedish vendor Ericsson, under which the telco will upgrade its existing 5G connectivity in Qatar.
Under this partnership extension, Ericsson’s team will work to facilitate the optimization of Ooredoo’s network with the latest technology- including millimeter wave – enabling multi-gigabit speeds, greater capacity and high mobile broadband speeds. This upgrade will also allow Ooredoo to explore new use cases using 5G technology.
Ooredoo will also gain greater insights into network performance, traffic patterns, congestion hotspots and incident detection in real-time, achieving greater resource management and an overall enhancement to customer experience, Ericsson said.
Ooredoo announced in April 2018 that the company was the first operator in the world to launch a live 5G network on the 3.5 GHz spectrum band. Ooredoo Qatar opened mobile access to its 5G network for compatible smartphone users in July 2019 with 100 live 5G base stations in Doha.
