Nokia has signed a big agreement worth EUR 1.36 billion with China Mobile that will see it deploying its 5G-ready AirScale Base Station for the China’s biggest Network Operator. Nokia mentions the following as the key take-aways from this major win.

  • One-year Yuan 9.927 billion (EUR 1.36 billion) frame agreement, covering all of 2016, signed at Sino-German Economic Forum
  • China Mobile first to announce it will deploy Nokia’s innovative AirScale Base Station
  • Nokia will continue delivery of mobile, fixed, IP routing, optical transport, customer experience management technologies and operational support as well as global services throughout the year to help China Mobile quickly meet increasing customer demands
  • Nokia becomes a leading provider of innovative technologies in almost all areas of China Mobile’s network

Press Release:

Nokia and China Mobile have signed a one-year frame agreement, valued at up to EUR 1.36 billion, to help the leading Chinese mobile operator transition to a flexible cloud network infrastructure, providing seamless connectivity that will more efficiently meet the ever-growing data demands of its subscriber base. Both Nokia Networks China and ASB will provide services under the agreement.

The agreement was signed at the Sino-German Economic Forum by Li Huidi, Executive Vice President at China Mobile, and Hans-Juergen Bill, Executive Vice President at Nokia and also Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nokia Networks GmbH & Co KG in Germany.  The German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the Chinese Premier Li Keqiang attended the forum.

Under the agreement, Nokia will deploy its innovative 5G-ready AirScale Base Station, which allows multiple radio technologies to operate simultaneously in one base station and offers virtually unlimited scalability to support 5G speeds and IoT demand. Nokia will also provide additional elements of its mobile radio access and core portfolio in addition to fixed access, IP routing and optical transport, customer experience management, operational support system (OSS) and third party products as well as its global Services expertise.

Going forward, Nokia and China Mobile will work closely to define the products and services that will enable the operator to meet ever-growing demands in a country where the majority of Internet users – 620 million of a total 688 million – use mobile devices to connect. Mobile phones were the most popular choice for 71.5 percent of new users accessing the Internet in China during 2015[1].

The frame agreement builds on a longstanding relationship between the companies in developing, trialling and deploying new technologies to enable seamless cloud connectivity and faster, more affordable Internet access to meet the demand as well as the evolution of networks to embrace the Internet of Things and eventually 5G.