Algérie Télécom, Nokia drive North Africa’s first commercial LTE network

Nokia, the world’s specialist in mobile broadband, has deployed North Africa’s first commercial LTE network in Algeria for the state-owned operator, Algérie Télécom.

With this LTE deployment, Algérie’s subscribers can now enjoy world-class LTE broadband service experience with high speed services and improved coverage, thanks to Nokia’s LTE solutions including its Single RAN (radio access network) Advanced and comprehensive services.

“We had a huge demand for ultra-fast broadband network and greater coverage as the number of broadband subscribers was rapidly growing across the length and breadth of Algeria,” said Azouaou Mehmel, President and CEO of Algérie Télécom Group. “We wanted to fulfill these demands by building an LTE network with the latest technology available on the market. With our long-standing partner, Nokia, we carried out our first successful LTE trial, and the company became our first choice for building a superior LTE network. We are satisfied with the quality and speed of the rollout, and are impressed by Nokia’s services expertise.”

“We know that Algérie Télécom wants to provide their customers with services at par with those provided by leading LTE operators around the world, and trust that our advanced radio access infrastructure enables them to do exactly that,” said Igor Leprince, Senior Vice President, MEA, Networks, Nokia. “Our award-winning, energy-efficient, compact base station reduces capital and operating costs while our comprehensive global serices competence ensured a speedy rollout of the project.”

Under the contract, Nokia has provided its Single RAN Advanced solution based on its high-capacity, scalable Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station for the majority of the LTE network. In addition, it deployed its cloud-ready NetAct for efficient network management across technologies.

The company’s comprehensive services including network planning and optimization, network implementation, and care services such as hardware and software services ensured the speedy and smooth rollout. In addition, Nokia provided a security solution, which included a solution from Juniper Networks, in order to protect both the operator’s network assets and end users’ privacy.

Nokia is spearheading the commercialization and innovation of LTE and LTE-Advanced, with 141 LTE and TD-LTE network references worldwide. Nokia is supplier to the world’s first three commercially launched LTE-Advanced networks and most of the largest networks by LTE subscriber count.