Saudi Telecom Company (STC) said that it will be making investment in 5G networks in order to build revenue from Internet of Things (IoT) business.
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Finland-based Nokia is the technology partner for STC for the development of 5G and IoT use cases.
Nokia has similar 5G contracts with BSNL and Bharti Airtel, two prominent telecom operators in India.
Nokia and STC will carry out trials of technologies such as 4.5G Pro and 4.9G, key steps on the path to 5G to build the capacity and throughput speeds needed for new applications.
The partnership will also play an important role in STC’s digitalization transformation and its support of Saudi Arabia’s 2030 Vision for transforming the country to be the hub connecting three continents including Asia, Africa and Europe.
Nasser Al-Nasser, senior vice president of Technology and Operations at STC, and Samih Elhage, president of Mobile Networks, Nokia, signed the 5G agreement.
“We aim to bring the first commercial 5G network to the gulf region, and we are confident that Nokia’s innovations toward the development of 5G technologies and IoT use cases, and their trials around the world, will provide a clear path for this,” said Nasser Al-Nasser, senior vice president of Technology and Operations at STC.
Nokia and STC will develop 5G and IoT applications that will use STC’s network, through advanced trials of 4.5G Pro and 4.9G technologies.
The trialing of Nokia’s small cells and enhanced Centralized RAN will prepare for 5G ultra-dense deployments and IoT use cases.
