The UAE-based telco selected Ericsson for its 5G network core expansion that will allow subscribers to tap enhanced mobile broadband, FWA and “innovative industrial and IoT” solutions over 5G.
The two described it as a “major milestone” in their partnership.
Haitham Abdulrazzak, chief technology officer, Etisalat, said: “Etisalat continuously strives for innovative solutions to bring value to our customers. Being recognised as the world’s fastest mobile network operator by Ookla Speedtest in 2020, 5G will act as an important infrastructure in realising the digital future, boosting investment in the country and driving the knowledge economy.
“We are rapidly upgrading our network to deliver the quality, capacity, and overall network performance that our enterprise and consumers demand. With a new 5G Radio and 5G Core network, we will further ensure high quality, increased capacity, and greater reliability for our customers,” Abdulrazzak continued.
Ekow Nelson, VP and head of global customer unit Etisalat at Ericsson Middle East and Africa, added: “Etisalat’s 5G network not only has the latest digital infrastructure capabilities, it also offers significantly improved capacity. Consumers, enterprises, industry and society in general in the UAE are set to benefit enormously from 5G and we are keen to be working with Etisalat to make that happen.”
It was the first of two new contracts to be confirmed by Ericsson this week.
Over in Russia, the country’s first 5G-ready private network will be deployed by Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), using the Ericsson Dedicated Networks solution. It will be used by Polymetal – the world’s largest gold and silver producer – at the Nezhdaninskoye gold deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) and will be introduced at the end of 2020.
The solution supports 4G and 5G Non-Standalone simultaneously and allows dual-mode core capability to support 5G New Radio Standalone. It complies with the 3GPP standards and includes a full-fledged carrier-grade network core, MTS and Polymetal will be enabled to use all the carrier grade packet network functions for own mission-critical applications.
Ericsson has recently announced contract wins in the UK with BT and Lithuania and at the start of this month completed its acquisition of Cradlepoint.
