Nokia announced that it has successfully completed its first 5G standalone (SA) call on a live network with China Unicom, and is expected to achieve full deployment of numerous software solutions with the operator several weeks ahead of schedule.
The data and voice calls, which marked firsts for Nokia on a 5G SA network, were completed earlier than planned in part due to Nokia’s experience-driven, customer-focused approach. By bypassing non-standalone (NSA) 5G core deployments entirely, Nokia was able to deliver 5G SA core for China Unicom and enable crucial network functions, such as network slicing capabilities.
Nokia deployed its Unified Data Management, Shared Data Layer (5G Unified Data Repository), and Cloud Mobile Gateway (from its Cloud Packet Core portfolio) for the 5G Session Management Function and User Plane Function. This was complemented by Data Refinery charging and NetAct network management, with all products deployed in the cloud using the Nokia CloudBand cloud infrastructure and management solution.
Nokia CBIS is an open, scalable, vendor-agnostic platform that is enabling software deployment across China Unicom’s existing multi-vendor hardware.
Markus Bochert, President of Nokia Greater China, said: “Nokia has skillfully managed both the overall project and technical components during these unprecedented times, which has been crucial to the speed and success of this deployment that will provide our customers with fast, modernized network management features.”
Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Nokia Chief Digital Officer, said: “We are very proud to reach this key milestone with China Unicom, which illustrates that the transition to 5G standalone networks can be completed rapidly – regardless of existing hardware; and that is part of what makes Nokia Software products distinct.”