Nokia announced that it has been selected by Tele2 to deploy Standalone (SA) 5G Core and Voice over 5G (Vo5G) to enhance its cloud infrastructure and improve data and voice connectivity for Tele2’s subscribers in Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. Deployment is expected to start in 2021.

Nokia Core offers near-zero-touch automation capabilities that drive greater scale and reliability, allowing Tele2 to cost-effectively lay the foundation for 5G and enable faster time to market with new services. Nokia’s open architecture also provides the flexibility to be responsive to market demands while controlling costs at a time of growing network complexity. As part of Tele2’s core evolution, Nokia will deploy its Cloud Packet Core products to support both 4G and 5G core network functions and enhance network scale, performance, and reliability.

Nokia’s further enhancements include deploying new subscriber data management software to streamline Tele2’s network operations. To support Tele2’s strategy of delivering voice over 5G (Vo5G), Nokia will further deliver Vo5G services to support connectivity and reduce operating expenses for both 5G and 4G. Nokia is leading the market in CSP core network deployments, with 25 of the top 40 service providers relying on Nokia Core Network products.

As part of the core transformation partnership, Nokia will deploy cloud and network management products from its CloudBand, Network Services Platform (NSP), and NetAct product portfolios to further secure, automate and scale network management operations. As a vendor-agnostic, multi-technology and multi-domain platform, CloudBand enables Tele2 to easily integrate existing and future solutions. Nokia solutions will be deployed across Nokia Container Services, a cloud-native solution that integrates multi-vendor and multi-technology environments.

To help further improve the security of this digitalized network infrastructure for Tele2, Nokia’s NetGuard Security products will be deployed.

Thomas Helbo, CTO, Tele2, said:“We looked for a knowledgeable partner to successfully and efficiently handle the rollout of our 5G core in a reliable way, and we found just that in Nokia. With Nokia handling the integration and their ability to leverage years of experience, our team is able to concentrate on enabling new services for our customers, while running a smart and reliable network.”

Raghav Sahgal, President of Nokia Cloud and Network Services, said: “We are proud to be expanding on our long-standing relationship with Tele2 as we move into the 5G era. With our relationship stemming back to the mobile core days of the 1990s, we look forward to collaborating with Tele2 to support new 21^st century digital services and unlock even more reliable network experiences.”