Nokia Corporation is powering East Africa’s first 5G commercial services with Safaricom, a telecoms operator.
Nokia, a multinational telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics company, stated on Friday.
“Nokia’s 5G Single Radio Access Network technology and 5G FastMile gateways enable ultra-fast Fixed Wireless Access services to Safaricom’s subscribers across Kisumu and the Western Province of Kenya,” the company said.
It added that the 5G technology would enable new applications in areas such as Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence for Safaricom subscribers.
It would also benefit enterprises across important energy, healthcare, education, transport and entertainment applications, Nokia added.
“Nokia has leveraged its AirScale SRAN platform to enable ultra-low latency, huge connectivity and extreme capacity to support the demands of today and tomorrow.
“The 5G network utilises massive Multiple Input Multiple Output radio to improve spectral efficiency and throughput capacity, maximising the return on Safaricom’s RAN investment,” the company also said.
It further stated that Nokia’s FastMile 5G gateway provides fibre-like speeds for fixed wireless services to subscribers.
Nokia’s SVP for Middle East and Africa Market, Amr K. El Leithy, said, “With over 200 commercial 5G agreements with leading customers across the globe, Nokia has been bringing 5G network to every part of the world.
“Our 5G network for Safaricom is a key part of this journey and we are committed to working with the operator to transform the communications landscape in the country. This will open new business opportunities for Safaricom.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Safaricom, Peter Ndegwa, said, “We are proud to be the first operator in East Africa to launch 5G services, bringing the benefits of 5G technology to our customers. 5G capabilities will change a lot of things in unimaginable ways for people and enterprises, playing a key role towards fulfilling our vision to transform lives.
“Our long-term partner, Nokia’s technologies and services expertise helped us achieve this milestone in our journey to provide world-class broadband services to our customers.”
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