Nokia wins Chunghwa Telecom 5G small cells deal in Taiwan

• CHT first to deploy non-standalone 5G small cells solution across Taiwan, delivering first-class coverage to businesses and the general public 
• Nokia’s innovative and cost-effective small cells solutions extend 5G coverage and add capacity to indoor residential and small enterprise networks 

Nokia today announced that it will provide Taiwanese mobile operator, Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) with a range of products from its innovative small cells portfolio to support CHT’s initiative to deliver comprehensive 5G coverage. CHT is the first operator in Taiwan to deploy a 5G non-standalone (NSA) small cells solution enabling instant 5G coverage in specific areas such as business as well as tourist districts. Nokia has already commenced deployment and has installed 140 5G small cells to date. 

Nokia has been a long-term partner of CHT, since the 2G era. The deal will see Nokia supply CHT with its flexible AirScale indoor Radio (ASiR) solution for better indoor coverage and capacity, as well as its AirScale micro RRH for outdoor and urban hot spots. These will be deployed to complement the existing base of over 2,500 sets of 4G small cells. Nokia’s 5G small cells portfolio is quick to install and enables operators to address 5G network densification and indoor coverage requirements. With enterprise being a key 5G market CHT is working closely with local small to medium-size enterprises to provide secure 5G coverage to enable industry 4.0 automation. Approximately 80 percent of mobile sessions are initiated indoors from homes and businesses and high-quality indoor 5G coverage is pivotal to ensuring a good end-user experience. 

Nokia’s industry-leading portfolio of residential and small-medium enterprise small cells caters to the full range of consumer and enterprise requirements. Several analyst companies have named Nokia as a market leader. Recently, GlobalData ranked Nokia as the leading small cells vendor in its competitive assessment, published in July 2020.

Ed Gubbins, Principal Analyst, GlobalData, said: “Nokia’s small cells offer high data throughput, compact form factors, and macrocell feature parity and 5G support can be seen across the portfolio.” 

Dr. Max Chen, President of Mobile Division, Chunghwa Telecom, said: “This is a continuation of our innovative and ambitious approach to small cell deployment across Taiwan. We are an existing customer of Nokia’s 4G small cells portfolio and had no hesitation in also adopting their 5G products for the first wave of deployment.”  

Tommi Uitto, President, Mobile Networks, Nokia, stated: “We are proud to support Chunghwa Telecom in their pioneering efforts to deliver compelling 5G coverage to key indoor and outdoor locations across Taiwan. We are delighted they have chosen our small cells portfolio to achieve their ambitious strategy and looking forward to partnering with them moving forward.”

Source: Nokia media announcement