Entel Extends Network Partnership
Towards 5G with Ericsson
- New contract paves the way to 5G for Entel’s mobile network using
the latest technologies, focused on 4G expansion, Massive MIMO and its
evolution
- Ericsson’s offerings include Ericsson Radio System and a virtualized IP Multimedia Subsystem (vIMS), using NFVi
- Entel subscribers to enjoy services with VoLTE, Gigabit LTE speeds, better voice quality, and lower latency
Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) has extended its 20-year strategic
partnership with Entel, the largest telecommunications company in Chile.
Under the terms of the new contract, Ericsson will prepare Entel’s
network in the evolution path towards 5G by deploying its latest LTE FDD
network technologies and LTE TDD Massive MIMO (Multiple-Input,
Multiple-Output). This will allow Entel to increase its competitiveness
and capture additional revenue streams.
Entel will be the first operator in Latin America to deploy Massive MIMO nationwide.
Massive MIMO is a wireless technology that uses multiple
transmitters and receivers to transfer more data at the same time.
Multi-antenna transmission is playing a critical role in the evolution
of 4G and 5G networks. Entel will also evolve the Radio Network
Controllers and EVO controllers across the network, including remote
locations such as Easter Island, and upgrade the transport network with
the introduction of Ericsson’s microwave solutions, a section of which
now tap into E-band spectrum to cater for capacity increases in backhaul
and fronthaul.
Alfredo Parot, Vice President of Technologies and Operations,
Entel, says: “Entel has a long-standing partnership with Ericsson that
is based on a history of excellence in product and service delivery.
Now, as we evolve our network to capture the new business opportunities
of Gigabit LTE and the evolution towards 5G and IoT, we naturally extend
this partnership with Ericsson in these areas. Our subscribers and
enterprise customers will enjoy the benefits of a very high-performance
network in the region for years to come.”
Arun Bansal, Senior Vice President and Head of Market Area
Europe and Latin America, Ericsson, says: “With mobile traffic volumes
expected to increase exponentially through 2020 and beyond, operators
around the world are bolstering their existing networks to deliver
higher speeds and lower latency to their subscribers. We write a new
chapter in the history of our strategic partnership with Entel by
evolving their network to Gigabit LTE and paving the way to 5G and
beyond, cementing their leadership position among operators in the Latin
American region.”
Within the agreement, Ericsson will also deliver several
strategic core network projects intended to upgrade Entel’s voice and
data networks to the latest generation in order to provide new end-user
services, enable increased broadband capacity and higher data speeds,
enhanced voice quality, optimized latency, and reduced network operation
costs.
Among these projects is a fully virtualized network service
(VNS) for Voice over LTE (VoLTE) including virtual IP Multimedia
Subsystem (vIMS), virtual Evolved Packet Core (vEPC) for VoLTE. vIMS is a
core network solution that delivers rich real-time communication
services for both consumer and business users over any access network
and for any device types, including smartphones, tablets, wearables and
laptops. Supported communication services include HD voice (VoLTE),
Wi-Fi calling and video calling. The NFV infrastructure solution
including Hyperscale Datacenter solution 8000, Ericsson Cloud Execution
Environment (ECEE) and Ericsson Cloud Manager (ECM) will be deployed.
The ECM and Ericsson Network Manager (ENM) will help orchestrate rollout
of Entel’s nationwide VoLTE service.
Source: Ericsson media announcement