Wireless Networks

Chile’s Entel is now offering 3.5GHz 5G coverage in Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island.

Telefonica-owned business-focused company Movistar Empresas and Nokia have announced a strategic alliance to accelerate the digital transformation of companies in the Latin American region through the development of industrial IoT networks.

Nigeria’s Globacom has launched an LTE-A network across several of the country’s main cities to bolster the speed and resilience of its existing 4G services.

QCell claims to have launched Gambia’s first commercial 5G service.

UAE-based du has selected Nokia’s Multi-Access Gateway (MAG) to deliver enterprise and residential broadband via 4G and 5G wireless access (FWA) networks.

Omani service provider Omantel has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with global two-way radio manufacturing company Hytera to launch what is described as mission-critical push to talk (MCPTT).

Malaysian operator CelcomDigi has announced that it has begun its full-scale programme to build what it calls Malaysia’s future digital network – integrating and modernising the largest 4G network in Malaysia with the latest LTE and 5G-ready technologies.

Multinational networking and telecommunications company Ericsson and technology company Intel have said they will collaborate on the development of 5G use cases that can accelerate the digitalisation of enterprises to support the Thailand 4.0 vision.

China Telecom Global, a provider of integrated telecommunication services, and telecoms services provider and enabler STC Group of Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to strengthen their combined IoT business, and, as the partners put it, “explore business opportunities and innovations that will achieve common goals for both parties”.

Telekom Networks Malawi (TNM) claims to have launched the country’s first 5G network pilot.

Tele2 Estonia has commenced its trial of mmWave 5G with a new 26GHz base station in the town of Lagedi, near the capital of Tallinn.

Nokia and Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison (Indosat) have completed a network consolidation program to boost experience for Indosat’s growing subscriber base.

Armenia’s Ucom is renewing its collaboration with Ericsson Nikola Tesla as it seeks to upgrade its infrastructure across the market.

The Tanzanian government, with support from the World Bank, has embarked on a project called Digital Tanzania in partnership with mobile network operators that will, it says, see the extension of broadband services to 713 wards – around 1,407 villages – and benefit over 8.5 million Tanzanians across the country upon its completion.

Guinea’s telecom minister Ousmane Gaoual Diallo has confirmed that state-owned player Guinee Telecom – formerly Sotelgui (Societe des Telecoms de Guinee) – has commenced the public test phase of its mobile network.

Malaysian company Sustainable Hrvest, a pioneer of smart farming, has deployed LoRa-enabled sensors and LoRaWAN-based gateways across its durian fruit farms in Malaysia, with the help of semiconductor, IoT systems and cloud connectivity service provider Semtech.

Mavenir has formed a strategic partnership with BSS provider i2i Systems to drive collaboration for Open RAN in Turkey.

ThinkWiFi, an Africa-based ad-tech free Wi-Fi internet service provider, and Mawingu, an internet service provider backed by Microsoft, have announced the launch of the first outdoor Telecom Infra Project (TIP) OpenWiFi network in Kenya.

Yet another private 5G initiative has hit the headlines, with news that Ericsson and operator Telia have launched the Baltic region's first enterprise 5G private network, Ericsson Private 5G.

Private networks are in the news again. This time Sociedad Portuaria Puerto Bahía, a port terminal in Cartagena, Colombia, is announcing that it is the first multipurpose terminal to adopt a private 4G technology in Latin America after a deal involving Nokia and operator Claro Colombia.

The new Nokia Middle East and Africa (MEA) Mobile Broadband Index research report is out. It confirms that the Middle East is far ahead of Africa in terms of 5G adoption, and that many operators in Africa are still developing their business models around 4G.

Bolivia and Costa Rica have separately issued major updates regarding 5G progress in their markets.

Orange Jordan has chosen Nokia’s 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment for its nationwide deployment.

Vodacom has become the first operator in Mozambique to launch commercial 5G, with its network now available in Maputo City.

In an unusual turn of events, India’s operators are said to be asking for a relaxation in 26GHz 5G rollout rules because there are not enough 26GHz-capable devices to make it worthwhile.

4G is about to become a reality in São Tomé and Príncipe in the Gulf of Guinea, off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa, thanks to Unitel STP, which has announced that it has become the first mobile operator to launch commercial 4G services in the country, after receiving approval from regulator AGER.

Telecentro Argentina has selected solutions from Nokia for its network transformation.

In another example of the growing interest in 5G shown by many industries, Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL)-Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Telecommunications Consultants India Ltd (TCIL) to explore the potential of applications of 5G and other wireless communication technologies in its SAIL-Bokaro Steel Plant.

Huawei is set to supply Teletalk Bangladesh with a suite of solutions aimed at preparing the operator for 5G and boosting rural operations.

Cellcom, a leading service provider in Israel, and open RAN software platform provider Parallel Wireless have announced the launch of what they describe as their first-of-a-kind pilot, which will demonstrate the deployment of autonomous 5G standalone (SA) core sites in Israel.

Telekom Romania Mobile has entered the country’s 5G market with a stealth launch via its existing spectrum holding.