Nokia wins multi-year 5G radio and core contract with A1 Austria

A1 Austria has selected Nokia to supply 5G radio access and core network services as part of its plan to roll out 5G coverage across the country.

A1 Telekom Austria Group provides digital services and communications technology in Central and Eastern Europe with about 25 million customers, currently operating in Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, Belarus, Slovenia, North Macedonia and Serbia.

In the deal announced in November 2020, A1 Austria engaged Nokia to provide industrial-grade private wireless technology and services for all existing and new A1 Austria LTE and 5G enterprise campus network deployments.

A1 is a global lead customer for Nokia’s network slicing technology in 4G and 5G mobile networks, a key functionality for enterprise networking, which A1 Austria plans to make available across the country. The longstanding partnership has also included the successful expansion of 3G and 4G mobile networks and the roll-out of Austria’s largest fibre-optic network.

Nokia and A1 Austria have also successfully deployed a number of private wireless campus networks in Austria, including installations at Magna Steyr, Vienna Airport and 5G Playground Carinthia.

The deployment of products and services in the new multi-year contract is under way, with the core element expected to be rolled out in the first half of 2021. Nokia will supply A1 with its AirScale portfolio including 5G RAN, AirScale base stations and Nokia AirScale radio access products. These systems are intended to enable A1 Austria to deliver the required connectivity and capacity benefits to its consumer and business subscribers.

A1 will also launch 4G and 5G network slicing commercially, following a successful pilot. The technology will support connectivity from 4G and 5G devices over the sliced network to applications running in private and public clouds. The slicing continuity between the networks allows operators to maximise their network coverage for new mobile connectivity services and deliver new value and business opportunities.

“Our ambition is to ensure Austria enters the digital era with the best connectivity underpinned by our 5G network,” said A1 Austria CEO Marcus Grausam. “With Nokia as our partner, we have already worked side-by-side on many successful projects and we had no hesitation in continuing our collaboration to ensure that we realise the full potential of 5G technology.”

Tommi Uitto, president of mobile networks at Nokia, added: “We are delighted to extend our longstanding partnership with A1 Austria into the 5G era by supplying our RAN and core technology. We have already worked collaboratively with A1 on a number of exciting projects and we take this expansion project as affirmation that our technology is best-in-class. We look forward to embarking on this next journey as their trusted partner.”