Nokia claims European 5G cloud RAN and standalone mmWave firsts

In two telco wins for its 5G technology spanning very different parts of Europe in almost equally diverse use cases, Nokia has completed a commercial cloud radio access network (C-RAN) deployment with Finland’s Elisa and inked a four-year deal with Italian fixed wireless access (FWA) provider EOLO to deploy what is said to be the first 5G standalone mmWave RAN in Europe.

Claiming to be a pioneer of 5G services in Finland, Elisa has a mission to pursue network cloudification and extend this transformation from the network core towards the access network. Cloudification plays a key role in the scalability of network services and is seen as a way for the operator to meet customers’ changing needs. With C-RAN, Elisa said it can shift network computing power closer to customers, whose network usage is moving closer to the network edge – a crucial feature as applications powered by artificial intelligence (AI) are likely to accelerate demand for edge computing in the future. 

In October 2023, Elisa and Nokia revealed what they said was the mobile industry’s first trial of C-RAN powered by in-line acceleration. The trial took place at Elisa’s headquarters in Finland and utilised Nokia’s commercial 5G standalone RAN and 5G core. The partnership has seen in-line acceleration realised in Elisa’s 5G network, which was the basis for successfully executing 5G data calls in C-RAN, with commercial 5G user equipment.

The project has now advanced to the point where Elisa can deploy Nokia’s commercial Cloud RAN solution, which can co-exist with purpose-built networks in hybrid environments and evolve into full cloud-native networks, supporting the rising demand for RAN cloudification. Common Nokia RAN software is said to be able to ensure feature and performance consistency of Nokia Cloud RAN and purpose-built RAN across the entire commercial footprint.

The commercial deployment completed end-to-end 5G voice and data calls with the 5G Cloud RAN solution including its AirScale-based Massive MIMO radios, baseband software and AI-powered MantaRay network management solution. Elisa also used Dell XR8620 servers, as well as the Red Hat OpenShift hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes, to support cloud-native RAN functions across the network. 

Nokia says a benefit of the early adoption of C-RAN is trialling the new cloud-native production model, which differs significantly from earlier models, involves a whole new ecosystem. Deploying the first commercial 5G cloud network in Europe is also claimed to put Elisa in a strong position while moving towards the 6G era, while cloudification is seen as playing a key role towards self-driving and self-healing autonomous networks.

Meanwhile, 2,800km to the south-west, the deal with EOLO is designed to support the telco’s ambitions to connect underserved communities, helping to bridge the digital divide and the digital speed divide in Italy.

Founded in 1999, EOLO describes itself as a leader in the field of ultra-broadband for residential and business markets, especially in rural areas and small municipalities, professional solutions with high technological content. It currently reaches more than 6,900 municipalities throughout Italy, with over 1.6 million people connected, through 1Gbps FTTH and up to 300Mbps FWA services.

The deal will see Nokia supply equipment from the 5G AirScale portfolio including baseband solutions, massive MIMO radios and remote radio head products. These are all powered by the Nokia ReefShark system-on-chip technology to provide “superior” coverage and capacity and deliver FWA services to rural or underserved communities where traditional wired infrastructure, such as fibre, may be impractical or expensive to deploy.

Nokia will also provide its Shikra mmWave radios for 5G capacity, ultra-wide bandwidth and coverage for what is claimed to be a premium user experience. Shikra is said to be well-suited for dense, urban environments such as shopping malls or sports stadiums, and support services such as real-time multi-user ultra-high-definition video streaming or augmented reality.

“Together with Nokia and the other partners involved in the deal, we will be able to bring FWA connectivity up to 1Gbps to the whole Italian market,” commented EOLO CEO Guido Garrone. “By installing a new 5G infrastructure, we will see the further development of our FWA network that will continue to improve the experience for our customers as well as bridge digital divide and digital speed divide.”