Nokia announced that Telenor Pakistan has deployed AirScale Cloud RAN solution and controllers to optimize the customer experience and improve total cost of ownership.
This marks the first deployment of the AirScale Base Station Controller (BSC) and AirScale Radio Network Controller (RNC) on AirFrame cloud infrastructure in Pakistan, and the first cloud-based BSC deployment in the Middle East and Africa region.
Nokia claims that its telecom solution reduces network complexity and operational cost, allowing service providers to provide innovative services more cost effectively.
Telenor Group earlier said it would finalized its 5G equipment vendor after completing 5G trials.
Khurrum Ashfaque, chief technology officer of Telenor Pakistan, said: “We will have more flexibility to scale the radio network resources based on demand as well as greater agility, which is critical as a significant percentage of our subscribers continue to use 2G and 3G services.”
Adil Munir Malik, country senior officer for Pakistan at Nokia, said: “Our AirScale Cloud RAN solution and controllers further the operator’s digitalization and prepare its networks for 5G.”
Telenor Pakistan has recently launched 4.5G technology in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Islamabad to enhance customer experience. Telenor Pakistan is the first to aggregate its LTE 850 and LTE 1800 networks to give excellent data service experience.
Last year, Telenor Pakistan said 30 percent of Telenor’s cell sites are on 4G. The company has plans to stretch its 4G footprint to more than 70 percent of its entire network within one year, said Khurrum Ashfaque, chief technical officer at Telenor Pakistan.
Since the purchase of 4G license in June 2016, Telenor Pakistan rolled out over 3,000 LTE sites across 110+ cities in Pakistan. Karachi alone has received 600+ LTE sites.
The company has more than 12,500 KM of fiber optic network — up from 5,000 KMs of fiber in 2013-14 — to power 3G and 4G networks.
