Nokia says this shows its commitment to open ecosystem, trial had reach of more than 15km
A1 Group in Bulgaria is trialling Nokia’s 5G Standalone (SA) Cloud RAN in operator’s commercial 5G network.
The trial took place in Sofia, where the companies performed an end-to-end 5G data call (Layer 3 call) running on Nokia’s Cloud RAN solution and its AirFrame servers.
A1 is testing the capabilities of Cloud RAN technology to assess the value of shifting to the cloud. A commercial 3GPP standard 5G SA device was used during the trial.
According to Nokia, the trial demonstrated progress has been made toward the commercial viability of larger-scale Cloud RAN deployments. In the trial, the Nokia Cloud RAN’s virtualised distributed unit (vDU) served radio cells at a distance of more than 15km.
The vendor also claims better operational using its suite of cloud deployment automation tools.
Working with A1 Group
A1 Group has a long-standing partnership with Nokia which provides 5G tech across markets including Austria, Serbia, and Slovenia.
Todor Tashev, Senior Director at A1 Bulgaria, said, “A1BG and Nokia successfully executed the trial, integrating Nokia’s Cloud RAN solution with A1BG’s transport and Packet Core networks. We have proved the maturity of the solution, including edge data centre and cloud orchestration solutions, provided by Nokia.”
Alexander Kuchar, Director Technology & Business Evolution, A1 Group, said: “This trial is an important milestone as we continue to deliver on our strategy of bringing best-in-class 5G services to our subscribers. Cloud RAN and open interfaces are drivers for building and delivering future generations of cloud-based networks and edge services.
“It introduces flexibility in the architecture of our infrastructure and related operating model and helps us to deliver innovation and the benefits of digitalization to our customers.”
Nokia rising in RAN
According to a new report from Dell’Oro, Nokia recorded the highest growth rate among the top 5 suppliers, while Ericsson and Samsung both lost some ground in the first quarter. Nokia’s share of RAN revenue outside China has been on the up for the past five quarters.