Nokia has bagged another 5G contract, this time with Asia Pacific Telecom, to supply Taiwan’s fifth-largest mobile network operator with 5G New Radio (NR) and 5G core (non-standalone and standalone) technology.
APT currently has more than two million subscribers in Taiwan, and plans to launch its 5G services later this year, with Nokia providing the company with 5G non-standalone and standalone (NSA/SA) technology. This will enable APT to eventually migrate from a solution that still relies on 4G LTE architecture to a fully, standalone 5G infrastructure.
“We are excited to continue our long-standing relationship with Nokia as we enter the 5G era."
Mr. Nanren Huang, APT.
“APT has ambitious targets for its 5G services, including transforming the enterprise and consumer sectors in Taiwan with new and enhanced high-speed services,” said Mr. Nanren Huang, President at Asia Pacific Telecom. “We are excited to continue our long-standing relationship with Nokia as we enter the 5G era and look forward to achieving our goals with them as our partner.”
Six key verticals
APT is also looking beyond consumer 5G use cases, and it is placing particular attention on Taiwan’s enterprise sector, as well as introducing cloud gaming, virtual reality, augmented reality and streaming services to subscribers.
“APT is pioneering the implementation of high-band 5G at 28 GHz millimeter wave in the region with Nokia as its sole supplier."
Tommi Uitto, Nokia.
“This is another important win for us in Taiwan with a long-standing partner,” said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia. “APT is pioneering the implementation of high-band 5G at 28 GHz millimeter wave in the region with Nokia as its sole supplier. We look forward to helping APT execute its strategy and deliver compelling and transformative experiences, using Nokia’s end-to-end 5G solution to business and consumers alike.”
Nokia will support APT in targeting six, key vertical industries: smart manufacturing, smart retail, smart medical, smart transportation, smart entertainment, and smart energy. And despite APT securing 400MHz in the 28 GHz frequency range, it currently owns no mid-band spectrum, and plans to work with other operators to share network in the 3.5 GHz frequency range.
This deal increases Nokia’s 5G footprint in Taiwan, with the company announcing a similar agreement – worth 400 million euros – with Taiwan Mobile, one of APT’s competitors, which will run over the next three years. In June 2020 Nokia announced that it will work with Taiwan Mobile (TWM) as the sole supplier of its 5G network infrastructure, including 5G RAN, 5G Core and 5G IP Multimedia Services (IMS).
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