Africell, Angola’s new mobile operator, has signed a deal with Nokia to provide 2G, 3G and 4G services in the capital city Luanda.
This deal expands the footprint of both Nokia and Africell in Africa. By deploying a brand-new network, Africell can take advantage of the latest cloud technologies to achieve cost efficiency gains from shared infrastructure, as well as improved control and flexibility which enable differentiated services to both people and businesses.
Nokia will deploy its AirScale Single Radio Access Network (S-RAN) across up to 700 sites to support concurrently 2G, 3G and 4G services, and be 5G-ready. Nokia’s AirScale platform can be seamlessly upgraded to support 5G networks through a software update.
The company will deploy Nokia AirFrame data center solution to run any cloud-based application with ease, microwave transmission network Wavence to support advanced packet networking, and NetAct network management system to enable consolidated network view for improved network monitoring and management.
Nokia will also deploy cloud-native Cloud Packet Core, 3G Core, Voice Core, and Registers for the voice and data core network software, enabling Africell to achieve a high degree of flexibility for responding to changing customer demands by scaling the various network functions according to the traffic experienced.
Younes Chaaban, Chief Technical Officer at Africell, said: “Our vision is to offer superior voice and data services in an expanding footprint across the continent. To achieve this, we need reliable technology partners whose network technologies and support services give us the best platform from which to serve our own customers.”